


The Bright Side

by perniciousLizard



Series: Fired Up and Bone Weary [25]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Children, Family Drama, M/M, Memory Loss, Parenthood, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 22:52:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8916253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perniciousLizard/pseuds/perniciousLizard
Summary: A lot of unexpected news hit Sans and Grillby, all at once.  Sometimes people come back, when they were never expected to.  Sometimes they can never come back, and someone else has to take over.  Papyrus decides that it's time for him to be a mom.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There's a fluff honeymoon fic that takes place before this, that isn't finished. It isn't connected to this one, but if you want to read what there is of it, you can find it here.

The worse Grillby’s mood turned, the less he spoke.  He wasn’t someone who had a lot to say on a good day, but even his body language turned stilted and spare.  

Sans noticed when his mood first went sour.  "long day?“  

Grillby shook his head and said nothing.  

Sans shrugged and left it.  Grillby usually came around if he had some time.  

But the next day, nothing had changed.  Sans occasionally got a single word out of him, or a laugh if he found a joke that was awful enough.

"so, what’d i do?”  Sans asked, curious, after almost a week of the silent treatment.  

Grillby seemed startled.  It was the strongest reaction Sans had gotten from him since he stopped talking.  "…it’s not you."  

"okay.  uh.”

He started to say something else.  The silence stretched out.  

“eh, take your time, buddy,” Sans said.  He shrugged.  

“…it’s really not you.”  

“got it.” Sans nudged him.  "what’d mom do?"

He shook his head.  

"not her, either, huh.”  

“…………I can’t.”  

Sans’ other guess was that something was up with the restaurant, but he’d been keeping an eye out and Grillby was actually in a better place when he was working.  It distracted him from whatever was up.  "all right."

It was a couple more days before Grillby’s mood started to nudge back towards normal. Sans didn’t say anything, but he was worried.  If Sans never found out what went wrong, how could he know it wasn’t going to go bad again in the same way, later?

He thought about shooting a message off to someone Grillby might have discussed it with, but ended up deciding to let it go.  Maybe he’d push more if it came up again.  He wasn’t sure if he was being respectful, or taking the easy way out.

–

"hey.”  Sans went into the living room from his bedroom, through the kitchen door.  He was tired of waiting for Grillby to come to bed.

Grillby broke eye contact with the television and nodded at Sans.  

Sans was disappointed when he saw that Grillby’s dinner plate was on the coffee table, empty.  Grillby always left a clean plate, which was a real let down when Sans wanted to sneak food off of him.  Sans settled down on the couch.  

Grillby watched him for a minute, and then turned back to the TV.  Sans wanted to get into his personal space and fall back asleep, but the lack of warmth in Grillby’s greeting kept him on his own side of the couch.  

“’s been a while since we saw a new movie,” Sans said.  He let his head fall back and closed his eyes.  "there’s that car chase one.“

”……next week."

"k.  it’s a date.”  He yawned and started to fall back asleep where he was sitting.  

“Sans?”  

“yeah?”   Sans turned towards him without opening his eyes.  

“I’m sorry if I’ve been acting strange.”  

“if?  nah, it’s fine.  not like i don’t have my off days.  heh.  weeks.”  

Grillby switched off the television.  "I heard from someone I never expected to hear from again."

"old flame?”  He cracked open an eyelid to see how Grillby reacted to the joke.  

“…no.”

Sans was a little relieved.  If Grillby got a message from an ex and was this worked up about it, that was bad news.  "want me to keep guessing, or what?"

"It was…family.”

“ok.”  

“Not someone you’ve met.  My other parent.”  

The one that had run off when Grillby was a kid.  "oh.  they just called up out of nowhere?"

"…they tried to connect with me…on the bar’s business page.  And then when I checked my personal account, they had added me there, too."

Sans made himself sit up.  He needed to wake up for this conversation.  "but they didn’t say anything?  maybe it’s someone’s idea of a bad joke.”

Grillby shook his head.  "They did the same with my brother.  He spoke with them."

"so it’s them.  ok.”  He rubbed his head.  "what the hell?  that’s kind of out of nowhere."

"I know.”

“and that’s kind’ve a, uh, not great way of getting back in touch.”  

“It doesn’t matter.”  

Of course it mattered.  Grillby was just doing the thing he always did when he was upset.  He took it a bit at a time.  Sans thought Grillby needed something from him, but his body language was so stand-offish, it was hard for Sans to figure out what he should do.  

Sans yawned as big and fake as he could and lay down, settling his head on Grillby’s lap.  Grillby looked briefly amused.  He rested his hand on Sans’ forehead.  

“ok.  what’s the plan, then?”  Sans asked.  He didn’t see any point in arguing whether or not it mattered.  

Grillby shrugged.  

“you worried your bro’s gonna…push you into talking with ‘em?”  

He shook his head. He stared at the blank television screen and idly pet Sans’ skull. “At least I know they’re still alive.  That’s…something.  They can go back to wherever they came from, now.”  

“yeah.  you’ve been doing pretty ok without 'em around.”

“I’ve been alive many more years without them here than with them.”  

“right.”

“Well.  If my brother wants to talk with them, then that’s fine.  So long as no one expects me to get involved.”  

“can’t say no one will, but you know pushing people to do stuff isn’t my thing.”

“It would be hypocritical.”  He traced along Sans’ cheekbone.  

“yup.”  He knew Grillby wasn’t actually paying attention to what his hand was doing, but Sans was starting to wonder if he was being mistaken for a bony housecat.  "anyway, you gotta make that decision, right?  someone pushes you into it and the old monster runs off again, well, you’re gonna resent whoever sent you on that guilt trip."

Grillby looked down at him.  His hand went still.  "…that aside, I… _am_ curious.  What do you think I should do?"

Sans considered it.  "you really want to know?”

He nodded.

“i say to hell with 'em.”

Grillby was somewhat startled.  He stayed quiet.

“they wanted to be pals, maybe they coulda thought about that twenty years ago.  i’m sure they’ve got their reasons.  who doesn’t?  but you don’t really have to care about those unless you want to.  you’ve got your own reasons _and_ you’re the one who got treated like garbage, so i don’t see why you need to bother.”  Sans shrugged.  "eh. maybe i’m petty, but unless you’ve got any reason to think they’re not just using you to ease their conscience and they actually plan on sticking around, what’s the point in putting yourself through the same junk again?"

"That’s what you think?”

“yeah.  but, uh, don’t actually listen to me, grillbz.  you decide to give it a shot, it’s none of my business.”  

Grillby laughed.  "I love you."

"thanks?”   He wasn’t sure what prompted that.  

“You’re looking out for me.  In…your own way.”  

“ _someone’s_ gotta be the guy who tells you to do nothing.”  

“It’s true.  I doubt I’ll get that advice from anyone else.”  

“but i’m serious about you not taking me too serious.  do what you want.”

“I was already thinking the same thing.  It…wasn’t easy letting go of them, but I’ve been fine without them for a very long time.”  He paused, thinking.  “…at this point I don’t care about making them feel better.  Or even finding out what this is about.”  He sighed.  "To hell with them."  He sounded tired.  "But I’ll be polite.  They are a stranger, after all.”  Grillby started idly petting Sans’ skull again.  

“ok.”  

“I don’t know why I was expecting you to say something different.”  He shrugged.  "Probably because of your father."

Sans was lying on a fire monster, but he felt cold.  He hadn’t been thinking about his own dad at all.  

"Sans?”  

Sans blinked a few times and rubbed at his eye sockets.  "yeah?"

"Are you all right?”  

“yeah.  look, your situation’s got nothing to do with mine.  my dad, uh, really didn’t make the decision to leave.  i suddenly got a message from him, well, uh.  it’s…just not the same situation.”  

“…right.  I’m sorry.  I…shouldn’t have brought him up?”

“i just wasn’t thinking about dad at all, really, so it kind of hit me outta nowhere.  no big.”

“………right.”  Grillby seemed to decide not to push at it.  He patted around until he found Sans’ hand, wedged between his side and the back of the couch.  He drew it up and kissed Sans’ fingers.  "Thank you. For putting up with my moods."

"it’s pretty tough.”  He winked.  

Grillby dropped his hand.  

“whoops, wrong line.  let me get out my script.”  He patted at himself, pretending he was wearing something with pockets.  "uh.  shoot. what about 'i wouldn’t bother if it wasn’t worth it.’"

"…that’s a _little_ better?  He took Sans’ hand back.  

"what about, i dunno, 'i like when you trust me enough to tell me this stuff.’”

“Is it easier to say these things if it’s part of a joke?”  

“ouch.  you’ve got me pegged.”  Sans held up his free hand and looked at it like he was reading off of it.  "here it is.  'i figured you were having a rough time.  anyway, i, uh, love you and all, so it’s ok if you’ve got your off days.’"

”…thanks. But that wasn’t the line, either."

Sans looked at the back of his hand.  "nah.  'i don’t put up with you’ is yours.”

“I see.”  He rubbed under his glasses.

“hey.  you giving sleep a shot at all tonight?”

“In a little while.”  

Grillby eventually switched the television back on, and they both fell asleep where they were.  

-

Papyrus found them on the couch the next morning.  Sans’ arm hung over the edge and his hand was touching the floor.  He was snoring.  If Papyrus was not used to finding his brother asleep under the sink, he would have thought Sans looked uncomfortable.  

Grillby was still in his work clothes.  He had begun removing his bow tie at some point, but stopped halfway through the process and it hung loose.  Papyrus thought he heard a low rumbling in Grillby’s chest, like he was also snoring, but it was difficult to be sure.

Papyrus started towards the kitchen, determined to ignore them, but turned around right before the doorway and went and got one of the spare blankets out of the linen closet.  He carefully put Sans’ hand back on the couch and draped the blanket over him.  He stared at his brother, annoyed, and then went into Sans and Grillby’s bedroom and found Sans’ phone on the side table.  The alarm was set, so Sans must have been planning on waking up to take Frisk to school.  

He brought the phone into the living room and set it on the coffee table.  He took Grillby’s dirty plate into the kitchen with him.  He didn’t mind occasionally cleaning up Grillby’s dishes, since he was usually diligent.

It was not entirely normal behavior for Grillby to nap on the couch all night, even with Sans there to be a bad example.  Papyrus had suspected for a little while that his friend was unhappy about something, but had not put forth his usual effort to find out what was bothering him and help. He would have to remedy that, and soon.  

Papyrus had been leaving early and coming home late for several weeks, and it was getting in the way of maintaining his normal relationships.  

He was actually engaged in a small deception, and was a little proud of his ability to keep the wool over his brother’s eye sockets for such a long time. Sans had implied on more than one occasion that Papyrus was over-working himself, but he did not seem to have sniffed out Papyrus’ real reason for barely being at home.  

Papyrus managed to leave without waking anyone.  He realized he must have a hidden talent for stealth.  He stopped at a small apartment building on his way to work.  


	2. Chapter 2

 

Papyrus had moved the huge solid table and set up a holographic projector, transforming the dining room into a conference hall.  Most of the chairs had been relocated to the living room, but three were left behind so they could watch whatever Papyrus had planned.  Wonderful.  Grillby took that to mean that he was included.  

Nervous, Grillby turned on the projector.  

**“APRIL SKELETON-FIRE FAMILY MEETING”**

Aha.  The meetings were getting increasingly elaborate.  

Papyrus kicked the door open and walked in, his hands full carrying a tray of hors d'oeuvres.  Grillby’s attention went to the food.  It didn’t look unappetizing, but he knew that trying to guess by looks with Papyrus’ cooking was as accurate as guessing its quality by flipping a coin.  

“AH!  GRILLBY!  I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE OUT FOR ANOTHER FEW HOURS.”  

Grillby shrugged.  He had gotten frustrated trying to explain his order and given up.  He was not in the mood to put up with much from anyone, lately, and he wasn’t going to explain himself to Papyrus. “…do you need help?”  

“YES, IN A WAY, WHICH I WILL GET INTO IN THE–”  He broke off.  "OH!  YOU MEAN WITH SETTING UP!  WOULD YOU LOOK OVER THE SCHEDULE FOR TYPOS?“  He set down the tray on the table next to the projector and handed Grillby a sheet of paper.  At the last meeting, Papyrus had mistyped a single word, and Sans had said that word every other sentence, mispronounced.  

Grillby glanced over the schedule.  Everything was spelled correctly, and according to the timetable Papyrus had taken their complaints to heart and shortened his opening and closing remarks, but the fourth item on the list made him uneasy.  

> 1\. OPENING REMARKS
> 
> 2\. PUZZLE OUT THE CULPRIT WHO HAS BEEN LEAVING CHISPS BAGS IN THE BATHTUB
> 
> 3\. OBTAIN PROMISE FROM SANS TO DO BETTER IN THE FUTURE
> 
> 4\. GRILLBY
> 
> 5\. WATCH AND DISCUSS MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION MASTERFULLY ASSEMBLED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS
> 
> 6\. ALLOW SANS AND GRILLBY TO BRING UP ANY CONCERNS, QUESTIONS, OR COMPLAINTS OF THEIR OWN AND ADDRESS THEM
> 
> 7\. CLOSING STATEMENT AND HUG

Grillby already had a complaint about having his dining room rearranged without it being discussed with him in advance, but that one could wait until later.  He waved Papyrus back over and pointed at item #4.  

"OH NO!  HAVE I BEEN MISSPELLING YOUR NAME FOR ALL THESE YEARS? I REALIZE THAT SANS SPELLS YOUR NAME IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT I HAD ASSUMED IT WAS A RUDE JOKE.”  

Grillby shook his head.  "…it’s spelled right."

"OH!  WHEW.  I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO EVEN BEGIN APOLOGIZING FOR THAT!”

“…why am I an entire item?”  

“WE ARE NOT EVEN PAST OPENING REMARKS YET,” Papyrus said.  

“…but…”  He sighed.  Maybe he would just skip the family meeting, this time.  

Grillby went into his office and left Papyrus to finish whatever he was doing.  

A little closer to the start time, Grillby felt the air in his office shift and Sans was there, behind him.  

“hiding out too, huh?”

“…this is getting out of hand,” Grillby said.  At least he was getting the work he normally tried to avoid done.  

“bro means well.”  

“I know.”  Grillby rotated his chair around.  

Sans held out his hand.  Grillby took it, casually destroying the whoopee cushion concealed there before it had a chance to make any noise.  Sans winked and pulled him to his feet.  At least they were in this together.  

The hors d'oeuvres turned out well.  Grillby could forgive a lot if he didn’t have to put up with bad appetizers.  He listened to Sans express confusion about the garbage in the bathtub.  Sans tried to blame Grillby.

“DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY IN YOUR DEFENSE?”  Papyrus asked Grillby.  

“………i hate water.”

“TRUE.  OK, SANS, ALL I AM ASKING IS THAT YOU NOT DO THIS IN THE FUTURE.  WHETHER OR NOT YOU DID IT IN THE PAST.  IT IS DISGUSTING!  IF YOU WANT TO USE A BATHROOM AS A TRASH ROOM, YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE MASTER BATH!  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FORCE ME TO STAND IN SOGGY SALT-LADEN FOOD REMNANTS WHEN I AM TRYING TO GET CLEAN.”  

“ok.  i won’t do the thing i didn’t do from now on.”  

“I NEED THAT TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, SANS.”

Grillby surreptitiously exchanged a series of emails with one of his suppliers while the brothers talked.  

“GRILLBY!”

He shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked at Papyrus, his expression innocently blank.  "…yes?“

"THAT IS THE NEXT ITEM!  I MEAN, YOU ARE THE NEXT ITEM.”  

“congrats,” Sans said.  He patted Grillby on the back. “you made it.”  

Grillby rubbed under his glasses.  He was going to get a headache.  

“I DO NOT THINK I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS OBSERVED THAT YOU HAVE BEEN IN A POOR MOOD LATELY, GRILLBY.  WE ARE CONCERNED.  IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP YOU?”  

Oh.  He was touched.  Annoyed, too, but that tended to be his combination of emotions, when it came to Papyrus.  "…I’m fine." 

Sans was staring at him.  Grillby sighed and explained his situation to Papyrus, too, so he hopefully could avoid talking about it in the future.  

"THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN EMOTIONALLY COMPLICATED SITUATION,” Papyrus said.  "A LABYRINTH OF CHILDHOOD PSYCHOLOGICAL TURMOIL?"

"………no."

"ARE YOU POSITIVE?”

“They are just a jerk.”  

“eh, let it be, bro.  he’ll talk about it if he feels like it.”

“WELL.  ALL RIGHT.  I JUST WANTED GRILLBY TO BE AWARE THAT WE CARE ABOUT HIM AND WILL BE THERE IF HE NEEDS SOMETHING FROM US.  THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE MEETINGS, AS I STATED IN MY OPENING REMARKS!”

“……thanks,” Grillby said.  He sincerely meant it, but hoped they could change the subject.  

“anyway, i gotta admit i’ve been kinda curious about the main event here,” Sans said.  "you went all out with this.  it’s cool."

"IT IS!  BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS INFORMATIVE.”  

The projector had been on since the start, announcing the meeting in floating papyrus font.  Papyrus switched to the next image.  

**“THE JOURNEY OF LIFE”**   

He had illustrated the concept with an enormous image of a maze. Numerous parts on it were labeled.  Grillby noticed one dead end read “SOMETIMES YOU MUST MOVE BACK TO PROGRESS!”  He hoped that was true.  

“uh.”  Sans was taking it all in.  "wow."

"NOW, THIS MIGHT SEEM SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE, LOOKING AT IT ALL AT ONCE!”

“it does?”  Sans asked.  

“BUT WHEN YOU ARE STANDING INSIDE IT, WHICH WAY DO YOU TURN?  YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU WILL COME UPON A TRAP OR A DEAD END AND HAVE TO GO BACK!”  

“you’ve got some big news for us, huh.”  

“YES!  IT WAS DIFFICULT, BECAUSE I COULD NOT BE SURE I WAS CHOOSING THE CORRECT PATH, AND THE WAY IN FRONT OF ME WAS COVERED IN PRESSURE PLATES THAT PROBABLY ACTIVATE DEADLY ARROW TRAPS AT THE SLIGHTEST MISSTEP!  METAPHORICALLY.”  

“i mean, maybe literally, too.  if they’re really well hidden.”

“ALSO MAYBE LITERALLY!  BUT I CHECKED THE DINING ROOM BEFORE SETTING UP AND ALL I FOUND WAS A LOOSE LEG ON ONE OF THE CHAIRS.  I COULD NOT TELL IF IT WAS INTENTIONALLY THAT WAY.”

“probably.  can’t trust chairs.”  

“SANS, YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT I MEANT!   _ANYWAY_ –” The maze disappeared.  "I HAVE REACHED A NEW CHAPTER IN MY LIFE."

"we’re just swapping metaphors now?”  

Grillby nudged him.  "…stop heckling your brother."

"sorry, bro.”  

“THANK YOU, GRILLBY.”

“so what’s this new chapter in your maze?”  

“THANK YOU FOR ASKING, BROTHER!”  Papyrus clasped his hands together.  "AS YOU BOTH KNOW, I RECENTLY PUT TOGETHER A TEN YEAR PLAN LEADING UP TO ME STARTING A FAMILY OF MY OWN.  WITH A SPECIAL PERSON IN MY LIFE, OR WITHOUT ONE."

Grillby felt Sans go still.  

"BUT EVEN _MORE_ RECENTLY A WORK FRIEND OF MINE HAS TAKEN ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CARING FOR TWO CHILDREN WHO…” Papyrus looked away.  "WELL.  THEY NEEDED SOMEONE TO CARE FOR THEM WHILE WE FOUND SOME OTHER RELATIVES TO TAKE THEM IN!  BUT SHE HAS A ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT AND SHE HAS BEEN SLEEPING ON HER OWN COUCH FOR TWO MONTHS NOW."

Grillby looked at Sans.  

"we do have space here,” Sans said.  

“EXACTLY!  IT WOULD…NOT BE PERMANENT.  IT WOULD JUST BE UNTIL WE TRACK DOWN A RELATIVE OR, IF THAT DOES NOT PAN OUT, UNTIL WE FIND A NEW HOME FOR THEM.”

“so it’s like you’d be babysitting ‘em for a while.”

“IT MIGHT END UP BEING…QUITE A WHILE?  MONSTERS HAVE SPREAD OUT SO FAR OVER THE SURFACE, AND…IT IS TURNING OUT TO BE VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND ANYONE.  AND IF I DO BRING THEM HERE, I WOULD NOT WANT THEM TO HAVE TO MOVE AGAIN UNTIL THEY HAVE A REAL, PERMANENT HOME TO GO TO.”  

“what if you don’t find any family?  you think this might be the permanent place?”

“I DON’T…THINK IT IS RIGHT TO DECIDE THAT, AT THIS POINT,” Papyrus admitted.  "I JUST WANT TO HELP AND I HAVE AN OFFICE I CAN EASILY TURN IN TO A BEDROOM."

"…you said 'two children,’" Grillby pointed out.  "I can do most of my office work in the kitchen.”  He used a laptop for almost everything.  The extra rooms in his place had originally been for children, anyway.  

“I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD SUGGEST THAT!  SO YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THIS?”

Grillby was watching Sans.  They had already discussed what he would do, once Papyrus really started to board the mom train.  Even if someone else ended up raising these particular kids, Grillby wouldn’t be surprised if the experience made Papyrus start to do the real work of adopting a child.  

Sans was never going to tell Papyrus “no, you can’t” when it came to the things that made his life on the surface fulfilling.  Papyrus getting a chance to live out his dreams was what kept him going when his mood turned bad.  

It was actually selfish, Grillby thought.  Papyrus didn’t want to accidentally hurt his brother, but since Sans deliberately kept things from him to “protect” him, Papyrus couldn’t stop himself from causing him pain.  It was understandable, and Grillby did not blame Sans for it, but it _was_ selfish.  Sans wanted Papyrus to be happy more than anything else, even more than he wanted to listen to and respect what his brother actually wanted.  

“…I have a…small one,” Grillby admitted.  

Sans started.  He made eye contact and shook his head.  

“THEY ARE NOT PARTICULARLY NOISY,” Papyrus said.  "IF YOU ARE WORRIED YOU WILL HAVE TO DO A LOT TO TAKE CARE OF THEM, DO NOT CONCERN YOURSELF!  CONSIDERING YOUR SCHEDULE, YOU WILL BARELY SEE THEM."

"That’s not it.”  

Sans’ expression barely changed, but Grillby could tell he was getting angry.  "a small one, huh?  wonder what that’s supposed to mean.”  

“SO DO I?”  Papyrus asked, worried.  

“…my list of concerns is…very short,” Grillby said.

“that’s not fair,” Sans said.  He was trying not to laugh.

“WELL, I WANT TO HEAR THEM,” Papyrus said.  

“No, Sans is right,” Grillby said.  "I’m being…low."

"nope.  that can’t be right,” Sans said.  He was compelled to go along with the joke, even though he was visibly angry.  "that’d be a tall order for you.  you’re kind of being a great big jerk right now, though."

"WHAT?”  

“If I were to… _cut to the bone_ ,” Grillby started, “I…only have one worry, really.”

Sans swore.  

“ARE YOU…TALKING ABOUT SANS?  OH MY GOD, WERE THOSE ALL SHORT JOKES?  GRILLBY, WHAT HAS MY BROTHER DONE TO YOU?”  

“i know you’re in a bad mood lately, but you don’t have to take it out on me,” Sans said.  

“I’m not taking it out on you,” Grillby said.  He wasn’t motivated by spite.  

“SANS?  DO YOU NOT WANT ME TO BRING CHILDREN INTO THIS HOUSE?”

“i want you to do whatever makes you happy,” Sans said, glaring daggers straight at Grillby.  "there’s plenty of space and this has been your dream forever."  

"IT HAS, BUT…HE DID TELL ME A WHILE AGO THAT YOU COULDN’T MAKE ME AN UNCLE.  IS THIS CONNECTED TO THAT?  I WOULD BE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM, OF COURSE.  I COULD ALSO…MOVE SOMEPLACE ELSE?"

“don’t do that,” Sans said.  

Sans’ glare was becoming almost physically painful.  "…no one wants you to move, Papyrus," Grillby said.  "I’m just worried that he’ll get upset and then he’ll lie about it.”  Which he was already doing.  His worry was completely justified.  

“it’s not a big deal.  they aren’t my responsibility.”  

“Of course you’ll take responsibility for them,” Grillby said.  

“oh, come on.  i don’t even do that with stuff that i’m suppose to take care of.”  

“But you do that with things that have to do with your brother.   Even when you aren’t supposed to.”  

“it’ll be fine.”  Quieter: “I’ll figure it out.”

“Great!  You’ll figure it out!”  Grillby was letting himself get a little warm.  He drew himself back.  "That might even be true if you didn’t keep when you’re upset from everyone who cares about you."

"THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THESE MEETINGS,” Papyrus said.  He looked lost.  "TO SHARE OUR CONCERNS BEFORE THEY BECOME OVERWHELMING.  AND HOPEFULLY TO RESOLVE THEM."

"huh.  that’s a great point, grillbz,” Sans said.  "can’t think of a better way or time we could’ve done this.“  He leaned in, and Grillby leaned back.  He was too hot, and didn’t want to singe him.  "you know who you’re acting like, right now?”

“…don’t say it.”

“it’s like i’m talking with your mom.”  

Grillby stood up.  

“oh now you get to do that and just leave, huh.”  

Sans was right.  He’d pushed at something he knew Sans didn’t want pushed at, and done it in exactly the way he wouldn’t have wanted it done.  He’d been worried, and he’d acted out.  Grillby was acting like his mother.  

Leaving wouldn’t help, but staying wouldn’t, either.  He needed to cool down.  He headed towards the door.  

“BUT…WE HAVEN’T CLOSED THE MEETING YET,” Papyrus said.

Grillby opened the door.

“OR HAD THE CUSTOMARY CLOSING HUG.”  

His shoulders slumped.  

Papyrus walked over, and Grillby turned and let himself be hugged before he left.  He went into his office and locked the door.  That wouldn’t stop Sans, but he doubted he would be seeing him for a while.  

He did more office work until his flames died down back to normal. His anger drained away and left him exhausted.  He stared at his computer, unable to concentrate, his thoughts dragging and slow.  He should do something.  Doing something would make things worse.  He stayed where he was.


	3. Chapter 3

“WELL, THAT HAPPENED!  THERE IS NO USE PRETENDING IT DIDN’T,” Papyrus said.  "BUT I AM SURE WE CAN FIX WHATEVER IT WAS!"

"love ya, bro,” Sans said.  He knew he’d crossed a line with the “mom” comment as he was making it.  It had made Grillby leave, so it had done what he wanted it to.  

“I KNOW.  BUT WHAT WAS HE TRYING TO SAY?  WHY IS HE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU?”

Sans didn’t regret chasing him off.  Now he had to have this whole conversation, and it was Grillby’s fault.  "eh."  Sans shrugged.  "he’s in a slump.  so he’s gotta go holding my bones to the fire like he thinks it’s his job.”  

“THAT DID NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION,” Papyrus pointed out.  He walked back over and knelt in front of Sans’ chair.  "YOU WOULD, OF COURSE, TELL ME IF THERE WAS SOMETHING IMPORTANT.  YOU WERE JUST WAITING FOR THE PERFECT MOMENT TO CONFESS!  THAT IS RIGHT NOW.  I WILL NOT EVEN HOLD IT AGAINST YOU IF YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME EARLIER!"

"when’d you get so grown up?”  Sans asked.  "yesterday you were shorter than i am, and now you’re taking in kids and putting stuff like this together.  that maze graphic was the coolest."

"I AM AWARE!  IF YOU EXAMINE IT CLOSELY, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT IT IS  CONCEPTUALLY PERFECT, EVEN THOUGH ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE WAS TO ILLUSTRATE A GREATER POINT!  ALSO, IF YOU ROTATE IT CORRECTLY, IT LOOKS LIKE MY FACE!”  

“nice.”  

“NYEH-HEH-HEH!  THANK YOU!  I APPRECIATE THE SUBJECT YOU CHOSE WHEN YOU DECIDED TO DISTRACT ME.  I ALWAYS ENJOY ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED COMPLIMENTS!”  

“no problem, bro.”  

“IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS, THOUGH.  A PROBLEM.”  

“it’s not as big a deal as he made it seem, there,” Sans said.  "hey.  if you did the hug part, does that mean the meeting’s over?"

"SANS.”  

He was just making his brother worry about him.  No.  Grillby made his brother worry about him.  

“I ONLY HUGGED GRILLBY.  YOU ARE TECHNICALLY STILL IN THE MEETING.”  

“you’re not, though,” Sans said.  "why’m i talking to you?  wait a month and ask me again."

"SANS!   _PLEASE_?”  

Who could refuse those big ol’ eye sockets?  Not Sans.  Papyrus knew he was weak.  "uh.  okay."  How could he put it?  "look, i told him this a while ago.  the kid thing’s a miss for me.  i’d get worked up thinking about ‘em…uh.  running into trouble, i guess.”

“I WOULD PROTECT THEM,” Papyrus pointed out.  

“i know.  you’ll protect everyone.”  

“YES.”  

“i’d be lying if i said knowing that fixed my head, though.  wish it did.”  He shrugged.  "can’t put kids in a magic bubble and protect 'em every second of the day."

Papyrus nodded.  "CHILDREN ARE NATURALLY ATTRACTED TO DANGER.  THEY LOVE SPIKES AND DEADLY TRAPS!  YOU WOULD THINK THEY WERE SAFE BECAUSE OF THEIR BUBBLE, BUT THEY WOULD GO OUT AND POP IT THE FIRST MOMENT THEY GOT THE CHANCE.”  

“yeah, exactly.”  He was avoiding the time travel aspect of his issue.  He didn’t want Papyrus to have to think about that too much, and, anyway, it made it complicated.  

“BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN…YOU SHOULDN’T TAKE THE RISK?”  

“it doesn’t mean _you_ shouldn’t take it.  look, bro.  it’s great how much you want to help out.  really.”  

Sometimes you pushed at something and it moved for you.  Sometimes you pushed too hard and it broke.  Sometimes it was too heavy, and you broke yourself.  Breaking like that wasn’t a great time,  and it wasn’t really nice to do that to yourself when you had people who cared about keeping you around.  

“I FEEL LIKE THERE IS AN ELLIPSIS AFTER YOUR WORDS.”

“yeah.  cover your eyes, 'cause there’s a big but coming.”  

“I WILL CLOSE MY EYES, BUT ONLY OUT OF PAIN FROM THAT JOKE.”

“heh.  either way.”  

Papyrus was actually literally closing his eyes, because he said he would.  Sans loved him so much.  

“ok.  trying to fix this’ll make it worse.  you gotta do me a favor, here, bro, and not push me about it.”  

“BUT…WOULDN’T IT BE WORTHWHILE?  IF YOU COULD OVERCOME THIS?  YOU CAN’T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING, IF YOU DON’T TRY.”  

“yeah.  it’d be great if that happened.  i just put in some time and then you can get to be an uncle and grillbz can be a dad like he wants.  hey, even tori’d love to have a kid around she’s not responsible for that she can egg on into giving me trouble.  if i’d just get my act together, everyone could get what they want, right?”

Papyrus opened his eye sockets and frowned at him.  "I WOULD LIKE TO BE AN UNCLE, SOME DAY, IT IS TRUE.  BUT THIS IS A RARE CASE WHERE WHAT I WANT IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.  EVEN GRILLBY’S OPINION ONLY GOES HALFWAY." 

"ok.  but what you want is the right thing.  you wouldn’t push it if you didn’t think it’d be good for me, right?  i’d basically have to get better if i had to take care of a kid.  the stuff i’m worried about probably won’t happen, if i try really hard.”  

“WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN, SANS?”  

“uh.”  Sans tapped on the arm of his chair.  "i mean.  whatever it is i think, i’d have to pretend it wasn’t happening sometimes.  can’t make your kid deal with your problems, right?  i’d just have to lean on my friends.  that’d be ok.  they’re all really great."  

Papyrus nodded.  

They really were.  The best friends Sans could ask for.  "'course, you can’t lean on people all the time.  they’ve got their own lives, and you’re dealing with this every single day.  sometimes it’s just you, and what you’re trying not to think about.  everyone wants you to just get over it so they can move on with their lives, and can you blame 'em?  you sure wish you could."  He looked over Papyrus’ head.  "when things go bad, everyone’s pissed off, because you should’ve told 'em.  they knew you could do better, so when you couldn’t and gave up, it was just nicer to pretend you really were better.”

“OF COURSE WE WOULD BE ANGRY!  WE WANT TO HELP YOU.”  

“yeah.”

“I THINK YOU ARE UNDERESTIMATING YOURSELF.”  

“maybe.”  He shrugged.  

“YOU STILL HAVEN’T SAID WHAT YOU WANT,” Papyrus pointed out.  

He wanted to get to be around to see everyone get a chance to be happy.  And make them listen to some really bad jokes, and have to put up with them because they loved him.  Sans supposed that if they had to suffer, he wanted it to be because of something like that.  

If everyone thought he was just being lazy, not having a kid, then they were probably right.  He was just a little bitter about being pushed.   _They_ didn’t have to think about waking up one day and having 'em just be gone.  Well, if he didn’t tell himself, then he’d never know those kids existed.  He wouldn’t be in Snowdin trying to drag himself out of bed in the morning and also be trying to deal with that.  

God.  That was _worse_.  The least he could do was remember them.  

Papyrus stood up.  Sans was suddenly staring at his brothers’ shirt. It was one of those fancy skull t-shirts with the roses growing out of the eyes.  Cool.  Maybe kind of unnerving.  

“THERE SEEMS TO BE THINGS YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TELL ME,” Papyrus declared.  "WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, AT FIRST, SOUNDED LIKE THE STANDARD ANXIETY THAT ALL MONSTERS HAVE, BEFORE THEY EMBARK ON THE JOURNEY OF PARENTHOOD.  BUT THAT IS NOT ALL THIS IS, I THINK."

"sorry.”  

“EVEN IF THAT WAS WHAT IT WAS, ENTIRELY, I WOULD NOT WANT YOU TO PUT YOURSELF THROUGH…WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT…WITHOUT FIRST FEELING LIKE YOU WERE CAPABLE OF OVERCOMING IT.”

“what i want is for you to not have to have these family meetings every month 'cause you’re worried about me,” Sans said.

“HMM.  IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE RIGHT.  SOME THINGS CANNOT BE FIXED!  WHEN YOU DENY YOUR NEGATIVE FEELINGS TO ME, TO PROTECT ME SO THAT I WILL NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOU, IT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE LATER ON!  EVEN IF YOU WORKED VERY HARD AND GOT BETTER, I WOULD STILL ALWAYS CARE ABOUT YOUR WELL BEING, SANS.”

“that’s 'cause you’re the best.”  

“THIS IS VERY TRUE, BUT EVEN I CAN DO BETTER, I THINK.  I HAVE DECIDED THAT I AM NO LONGER INTERESTED IN BEING AN UNCLE.  OR – WHEN UNDYNE HAS A CHILD, I WILL DECLARE MYSELF THEIR HONORARY UNCLE!”

“she’ll love that.”  

“I THINK SHE WILL!  AND NOW YOU NEVER HAVE TO EVEN CONSIDER BECOMING A FATHER FOR MY SAKE,” Papyrus said.  "I DOUBT GRILLBY HAS BEEN PRESSURING YOU.“  

"he, uh, really believes what i told him.  i probably shouldn’t’ve chased him out, but telling me bad jokes to get me to fess up wasn't cool.”  

“HE SEEMS TO BE UNDER A LOT OF STRESS.”

“well, everyone is.  i know you’ll do a great job, but you’ve gotta be thinking about this all the time.”  

“IT IS AN ENORMOUS RESPONSIBILITY!  I WISH HE HAD NOT RUN OFF, THOUGH.  I DID NOT EVEN GET THE CHANCE TO SHOW YOU BOTH THEIR PICTURE.”  

“well, show me.  you can track him down later.”  

Papyrus flipped through until the projector showed the correct frame.

“oh, hey.  slimes.  cute kids.”  

“YOU REALLY DO NOT MIND ME BRINGING CHILDREN INTO THIS HOUSE?”

“well.  ok, look.  i have no idea.  it might get to me.  but, you know, i used to really worry about you signing up for the royal guard.  maybe you’d get, uh, hurt or something.”

Papyrus nodded.  Sans hadn’t been sure if he’d known.  

“i’m not stopping anyone from having kids.  if you give up your dreams because i told you about the stuff going on in my skull, it’s going to start being tough to convince myself not to lie to you.  ok?  i’ll try to tell you if it gets to me, and you can rec some self help books or whatever.”  

“YOU WILL EVEN READ THEM?”  Papyrus asked.  

Sans sighed.  "yeah, sure, paps."

They spoke for a little while longer, and Papyrus showed him the rest of his presentation and closed up the family meeting.  They hugged, and Sans went off to see where Grillby had gone to hide.  He was tired, but didn’t feel like going to bed by himself.  


	4. Chapter 4

Grillby was in his office.  The door was locked, so Sans came in through the small storage closet in the back.  

Grillby had his laptop open, but wasn’t looking at the screen.  He’d been burning hot earlier, so now he looked small and tired.  

These days, he usually noticed when Sans took a shortcut near him, but he didn’t appear to register that Sans was in the room.

“you’re not _that_ much like your mom,” Sans said.  

Grillby was visibly startled.  He turned.  "I didn’t expect you."

"well.”  He held his hands up.  "surprise.“  

”…I crossed a line.  You’d even told Papyrus not to bother me, and then…"  He shook his head.  "…sorry."

"yeah.  and that sure was a fun talk i got to have with my bro thanks to that.”  

He turned around completely and nodded.  He’d known exactly what he was doing.  "I wanted you to speak with him, but…not because of me."

"right.”  

Grillby looked down at his lap.  He seemed mostly self contained, controlled, but every now and then his fire would be buffeted one way or the other, even though the air was mostly still.  He was off balance, but trying to keep that to himself.  

“look.  i get that you’re sorta messed up, but you gotta quit taking it out on me,” Sans said.  

“…right.”  

Sans was increasingly frustrated.  He hadn’t wanted a fight, but he wanted more than blank agreement.  He could only tell Grillby was feeling guilty by guessing.  He couldn’t read it off him at all.  “uh.  ok, i guess.”  He scratched the back of his skull.  

“I…hadn’t expected to see you,” he said, again. 

“eh.  like at all tonight?”

Grillby nodded.

“it’s your day off.  i’m not going to bed by myself,” Sans said.  

It was just that it was only the one day a week.  Sans’ sleep schedule was all over the place, so sometimes they would happen to go to bed at the same time, but it was only a normal thing once a week.  They had a whole routine that one night.  Holding a grudge didn’t work out to his benefit.  

Grillby’s expression was uncomfortably blank.  "that’s…sweet."  He looked at Sans, for a second, and then away again.  "Do I need to clean out my office right away?”  he asked.  

“probably.  he’s not someone who waits around.”  Sans shifted, shoving his hands in his pockets.  "hey, uh, you know the odds are real good you’re not getting this room back, right?  i don’t think anyone’s popping up after two months of the kind of searching paps was doing, and bro’s not getting turned down if he decides he wants to keep ‘em."     

Grillby tipped his head, slightly, acknowledging what Sans said. ”…if someone showed up now…how close were they?  To the family?  If they didn’t know someone fell until now.  Papyrus probably knows the kids better, at this point.“ 

"i mean, they coulda been on the other side a the world or something,” Sans said.  "'oh hey my cousin died while i was stuck on slime mountain.’"

"How well would the kids know someone like that?”  Grillby asked.  He looked a little more comfortable.  

“yeah, sure.  but cousin mountain climber knew the parents, at least.  that might be good for 'em, being around someone like that.”  

He nodded.  "Maybe."

"yeah.  but that aside, you’re not getting this room back.”

“I’ll rent storage space for now,” he said, looking over his desk.  

“i’ve got space in mine, if you want.  i don’t keep much in there.”  

“…”  Grillby had been avoiding looking at Sans, but he was surprised into it.  "Since when…..?"

"couple years.  i’ve got it hooked up to the house so i don’t have to go anywhere to grab stuff.”  He was enjoying Grillby’s reaction.  

“…the house?”  

“yep.”  

“Where?”  

“bathroom.  c'mon.”  It’d be a pain to move Grillby’s furniture into the master bath, so maybe he’d hook it up someplace else when Grillby wanted to move his stuff.  He’d think about that later.  

Grillby stood up.  He went with Sans through his office door, directly into their bedroom.  Sans didn’t feel like running into Papyrus at the moment.  

“…the bathroom,” Grillby repeated, slowly.  

“well, the little closet in there.”  

“…the linen closet.”

“yeah, that one.”  

Grillby shook his head, amused.  Sans led him into the bathroom. He’d have to remember that the trick to getting Grillby out of a mood like the one he’d been in was to just weird him out.  

“…there’s a lock,” Grillby said, staring at the closet.  

“yep.”

“I…never noticed.”

“two years, it’s been there.”  

Grillby reached out and tried the door.  It opened, easily.  It was a linen closet.  "…funny.“  He took out a pillow case and examined it.

Sans was tempted to leave it at that.  "looks like someone got owned,” he said. 

“Not you, for once.”

“hey.”  He closed the door, again, and pulled a key out of his pocket.  "i’m only the one who gets owned like 50, 60 percent of the time.“  He turned the key in the lock and opened the door again.  The space behind it was suddenly dark.  The light from the bathroom only showed a stretch of empty floor.  "just a sec.  i got a lamp in there.”  

Grillby stepped past him, turning sideways to fit through the closet door frame.  He lit the space up further and found a small lamp a little way inside.  

“you ever forget something really obvious?” Sans said, tapping his skull.  He could see pretty well in the dark, and would have found the light easily, but why bother when he married a torch?

“It’s been a long day,” Grillby said.  He went over to the messy stack of boxes where Sans kept the stuff he didn’t have room for in the house.  He opened up one and pulled out a comic book.

“uh, hey.”  Sans climbed in.  

“There _is_ a lot of extra space in here.  Most of these boxes would fit in the house.”  Grillby flipped through it.  

“oh, yeah, i just got this place when i was setting up for the telescope,” Sans said.  "all that’s left is stuff i never unpacked from the old house.“  The old, old house, in Snowdin.  He’d had a smaller storage unit before getting the big one.  If Papyrus knew he hadn’t unpacked so many boxes, he’d flip out.  

"Well,” Grillby said, looking around.  "The desk isn’t fitting through the door."

"yeah.  don’t worry.  i’ll have it covered once you’ve got the room packed up.”  

“Where are we?”

“oh.  it’s just the storage rental down the road.”

“…the one…in walking distance…”  

“yeah.”  

“…Sans.”  

“yeah?”  

“………never mind.”  

“look, just trust me.  it ends up being less work sticking it on the bathroom.”

“…I trust that…you would know what takes less work.”  

Sans snorted.  "ok.  if that’s set, let’s get outta here.  i don’t know why you’re always dragging me out to these weird places."

He turned the key in the lock again, once they were out.  Grillby opened the linen closet door and put the pillowcase back inside.  

The distraction had improved Grillby’s mood, but it dropped right back down again once they were in the bedroom.  He sat on the bed.  "I _am_ sorry.  I’ve been like this.”  

“hey.”  Sans sat next to him.  "you’ve been kinda worried about me, huh.  that’s a lot on top of everything else."

"…worried?"  He shook his head.  He put his hand on Sans’ knee and gripped it, tight.  Heat sunk in down through Sans’ bones. "………scared," he said.  "…for you."  He was smaller than normal, and even more erratic.  He struggled to get out every word.  "What if……”

Sans dropped his hand on top of Grillby’s and looked up at him.  This must have been building for quite a while.  

“……if I can’t…help you?”  He finally stopped staring at the ceiling.  His face was blank, but anxiety twisted off of him.

Sans’ sleeve caught on fire, but it didn’t burn.  The flame stayed where it was, harmlessly swaying on Sans’ arm.  "don’t need you to do that."

Grillby nodded.  Sans could tell he’d said the wrong thing.  Grillby brushed the fire off Sans’ arm, but another part of Sans’ shirt caught on fire while he was doing that.  

"uh.”

Irritated, Grillby started to pull away to put a little distance between them while he forced himself to get under control.  Sans grabbed onto his arm.  

“not like it hurts,” Sans said.  "look, i, uh.  i’ll be ok.  i’m glad you’re here.  i just don’t need you to do anything.  other than be around.  i mean.  i don’t need that either.  i’d be ok if it was too much for you, but."  He let go of Grillby’s arm and rubbed his skull.  "you get what i mean.”  

Grillby tried to brush more fire off of Sans’ shirt, but it just wanted to spread.

“eh.  leave it.”  

“…you don’t need anyone?”  

“that’s not what i mean.  i just.”  He shrugged.  "don’t need you thinking it’s your job to fix my issues."  Sans looked away.  "you or papyrus.  you gotta trust me a little.  that i’ll, uh, ask for something if i need it.”  He had to be better about that.  Grillby was going to lose it if Sans didn’t give him that much.

Grillby touched his shoulder.  He was quiet.  Sans waited to see if he was going to say anything.  Grillby pulled him into a hug, pressing Sans’ face against his chest.

Sans felt warm all over.  He was pretty sure he was entirely on fire, now.  

When Grillby spoke, it was like he was hearing his voice all around him.  " **You’re important.  To me.** “  

Sans nodded.  It was tough to talk in the position he was in.  

” **Don’t forget that.** “  

Sans looked up.  All he could see was orange and white.  He blinked a few times, until his vision cleared.  "got it,” he said.  

Grillby kissed him and pulled away.  This time, Sans was left completely free of stray fire.  He didn’t have a scorch mark on him. No matter how upset he was, or how erratic his mood, Grillby didn’t want to hurt him.  

“we good?”  Sans asked.  

His shape was slightly distorted.  "…I need to…pull myself together."

Sans laughed.  That was still one of his favorite jokes.  "that’s actually a good look for you,” he said.  "way better than whatever was going on before."

"Too much is happening at once,” Grillby said.  "It’s not the first time."  He tipped his head.  "I’ll figure it out.”  

“what a bonehead line.  who says that?”  Sans asked.  "i’d probably flip out if i heard it all the time."

"You should learn to be more patient.”

“nah.”

Sans wondered how long Grillby had been this worried about him. Since he first told him he wasn’t having kids?  No, it probably started way before that.  

“anyway i think we should order pizza,” Sans decided.  

“Did Papyrus like the pasta at the last place we tried?”

“he gave it, uh, a negative seven outta two.  so, yeah.”  Grillby was always annoyed at Papyrus for being so picky and not even liking the kind of things that Grillby thought were objectively good.  But he still tried to pick takeout he liked.  Sans decided he’d keep Grillby around.  

“He said the salads were greasy, though.”

“so he won’t eat the salad.”

They tracked down Papyrus and asked him if he wanted anything.  


	5. Chapter 5

Sans woke up at four in the morning.  Grillby was sitting up, next to him, typing to someone on his phone.  

“can’t sleep?” Sans asked.  

Grillby glanced away from his phone.  

“i’d say take a sleeping pill, but you might wake it up,” Sans mumbled.  

“…….?”  It took Grillby a second to get it, and then he hushed him.  

Sans moved over and put his head on Grillby’s lap.  He started to nod off again.

“Can I ask…a favor?”  Grillby set his phone down.

“mhm.  not gonna stop you from asking.” Sans said.  

He was quiet.  

“gotta ask soon or it’s waiting ‘til morning.”  Sans hoped that if it was bad news, he’d leave it until then, anyway.  Or leave it forever.  

“…I think I’m going to meet with them.”

“those kids?”  Wait, no.  He must mean his other parent. Sans had gone onto Grillby’s computer at one point and taken a look at the messages they had sent Grillby.  Apparently they were named “Kindling” and their profile was mostly blank, but he found out they lived a couple hundred miles south of the city.  They did have a picture up, but it wasn’t a great one so all Sans got from it was “yep, that monster’s made of fire.”  

Sans had done a little investigating, to see if maybe they were low on cash and looking for handouts, but he could barely find any record of them.  

“My–”

“no, right, got it.”  

“My brother wants to see them, and he asked if he should have them stop here or go all the way up to where he lives.  I think I want to get it over with.”  

“ok.”

“Would you come with me?”

“sure.”  Sans was a little curious, anyway.  "so long as you’re meeting up over lunch and it’s not something i gotta stand up for."

"Thank you.”  He picked up his phone again and set it on the side of Sans’ head and started sending messages again.  

–

Now that Kindling was right in front of Sans’ eye sockets, he could see the family resemblance.  They were a little shorter and wider than Grillby, and they dressed like someone who wasn’t used to dressing up, but otherwise they could’ve been copies of each other. They had a quieter way of speaking that reminded Sans more of Grillby than any other member of that family.  

Grillby’s brother had taken his motorcycle on a two day trip down to meet with them.  He wasn’t talking much, either, even though he was the one who suggested the meeting in the first place.  

“so, what’s good here?” Sans asked.  The long silences didn’t bother him.  

Braise was the only one who had eaten there, before.  He was distracted for a second from glowering at his long lost relative and started going into what he’d had when he and his mother ate there.  Everything was spicy.  

They put in their orders.  Sans translated for the brothers, but Kindling just pointed at what they wanted on the menu.  

“so, how’s the surface been treating you?” Sans asked. That was just one of those questions monsters asked each other.  

Kindling shrugged.  They flickered nervously.  "Fine."

"c'mon.  give us some details.  that barely… _scratches the surface_.”  He winked. 

Grillby looked at him.  

“I don’t do much,” they said.  They were looking at the surface of the table like the contained the secrets of the universe. “I’m more interested in what they’ve been doing.”  

Grillby turned towards Braise.  "Calm down," he said.  

Sans hadn’t been paying much attention to Grillby’s brother.  In the few minutes since Sans had asked about the menu, Braise had gone from quiet and sullen to quiet and a foot taller and enraged.  

"What have _we_ been doing?”  He directed the question at Grillby.  

“It isn’t worth it,” Grillby said.  

“Can you believe this?”  

Grillby shrugged.  

Braise stood up and leaned across the table.  Sans decided the other side of the room was a better place for him and his under ten HP to hang out.  The attention of the entire restaurant was on their table. Braise jabbed his finger at Kindling a few times, but didn’t send more than a couple volleys his way and raise the temperature in the restaurant.  

Sans couldn’t hear what was being said.  He chatted with one of the humans near him.  "families, am i right?“ he asked.  Maybe they should’ve done this at the house.  "can’t live with 'em.”

Braise stormed out, and the whole room relaxed.  Sans went back over to the table.  

“He drove for two days to do that,” Grillby said.  

“that was planned?”  Sans wished someone had told him.

He shook his head.  "It’s predictable, though."

Sans apologized to the waiter for the table.  There hadn’t been any damage, and Braise had left after two minutes, so they didn’t get kicked out.  Sans kind of wished they had been.  

"I’ve been…well,” Grillby said, after another awkward stretch of silence.  "He has a child, so you’re a grandparent, if you didn’t know."

It was very cold, and very polite.  

"You already know about the bar,” Grillby said.  

“That’s how I found you.”  They didn’t seem interested in their food.

Grillby nodded.  

Sans dug into his own meal, keeping an eye on Kindling.  He was still curious what their motivation was, and why they had popped up after so long.  

“Was there anything else?”  Grillby asked.  

“I…”  They looked at Grillby, just for a second.  "Do you think…"

There was silence while they waited for them to finish.  They didn’t.

"Probably not,” Grillby said.  "Are you eating?  I have someone else opening for me, but I have to get back eventually."

"I’m ready to leave,” they said.  

Grillby left a big tip to make up for his brother’s behavior.  Sans liked how concerned he always was about the people who worked wherever they ate.  That was part of the long list of things Kindling wouldn’t know about their own kid.  Sans kind of got why Braise had blown up.  No one could just fill 'em in on that many years over lunch, or even start.  

Outside, Grillby turned towards them.  "Well.  It’s good to know you’re still around."

They nodded.  "I’m…sorry I never kept in touch.”  

“I’m sure you had your reasons,” Grillby said.  

“I will be here for a few days,” they said.  "Maybe we could have lunch again?"

Grillby shook his head.  "No.  Thank you.”  

“Or…” They trailed off.

“No thank you.”  He turned to Sans and held out his arm.  

“i know a shortcut back from here,” Sans said.  He took Grillby’s arm.  "hey, great meeting you,“ he said, to Kindling.  

Grillby nodded.  "My brother will want to talk to you again.”

“heh.  good luck with that,” Sans said.  

“…goodbye,” Kindling said.  

Sans took Grillby around a corner and back to Grillby’s.  

-

They stood outside.  Grillby rolled his shoulders and checked his shirt for any stains from lunch.  

Sans hovered, awkward.  He shoved his hands in his pockets as soon as he let go of Grillby.  

“so, uh.  that’s it, huh.”  

“I feel better,” Grillby said.  He felt better than he had since he had read the first message from them.  

“you really think your bro’s going to see ‘em again?”

He nodded.  "He wants to have a relationship with them.  That’s what all of this is about, for him."

"you don’t?”

“No.  But I can be polite with them, if Braise invites them to family things from now on.  It’s fine.”  He was looking at the “open” sign on the door.  "It was difficult letting them go, the first time.  I’m not doing it again."

"yeah.  i get that.”

He shrugged.  "But they’re just an old monster.  They made a poor decision.  It’s over.  I can’t even be angry."

Sans thought that if he could be angry, like his brother, maybe he could start over.  Maybe trying seemed like too much work, with no real reason to believe it would amount to anything.  "right.”

“…thanks for coming.”  

“no prob, bob.  no trouble…uh, grubble.”  

“No.”

“hubble?”  Hey, that was a good one.  

“Go home, Sans.”  


	6. Chapter 6

“OH, EVERYTHING WAS MOVED INTO SANS’ TOP SECRET STORAGE UNIT.”  Papyrus opened up a can of bright red paint.  "THERE WERE BOXES AND BOXES OF THINGS NEVER UNPACKED, FROM SNOWDIN, ORIGIN TOWN OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!  SO MUCH WORK WENT INTO BEING SO LAZY!“  

"I can almost respect that!”  Undyne said.  

“THE AVERAGE LAYABOUT WOULD HAVE GIVEN AWAY THE ITEMS, OR JUST PUT THEM IN A CLOSET!  BUT, NO.  MY BROTHER WILL NEVER BE SECOND BEST WHEN IT COMES TO SLACKING.”

“I’d’ve just thrown 'em in the trash,” Undyne said.  "Out with the old, in with the new!"

"THAT IS JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT COMMITTED TO THE LIFESTYLE THAT SANS IS,” Papyrus explained.  "CLEARING OUT OLD THINGS IN THAT WAY WOULD BE LIKE CLEANING."  He taped plastic over the windows.  Undyne had been against covering things at all, but he remembered how it had gone when they painted the other bedroom.  Once Undyne got hold of the paint roller, nothing would stop her.  

Undyne straightened out the last drop cloth and stood up.  She took a look at the inside of the paint can.  "Wow!  What a bold color choice!  I think I’m going to like this kid.”

“WELL, DARKER COLORS ARE BETTER BECAUSE OF…ALL THE CONSTANT SMOKE IN THIS HOUSE…AND THIS IS THE ONE SHE CHOSE OUT OF THE OPTIONS I GAVE HER.”

Undyne shoved her fist into the paint can.  "It looks like I ripped the heart right out of a human!  I feel POWERFUL!" She wiped her hand on the wall.

"THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WOULD BE PAINFUL FOR THEM?”  

“Obviously the human I’m imagining was completely evil,” she said.  "Just a complete shit!  They punched babies!"

"SOMEONE SHOULD TELL THEM TO STOP THAT.”  

“There’s no stopping them!  They’re a baby-punching menace!  A hero has to take a stand!”  

“YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT YOU WANT BUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS IMAGINING THEM APOLOGIZING AND PROMISING TO DO BETTER.  THEY WITNESSED GOOD IN THE WORLD FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN THE FORM OF A CERTAIN HEROIC SKELETON, AND DECIDED TO NEVER BE EVIL AGAIN.”  

“Quit it!  I’m imagining an epic battle on the edge of a cliff! The rain’s pouring!  The wind’s howling!  Alphys is on the phone, begging me to be careful!”

“AND THEN THE HUMAN SAYS 'WOWIE!  YOU’RE SO IMPRESSIVE AND I WOULD NOT WANT TO MAKE YOUR WIFE SAD OR DISAPPOINT THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WHO I LOVE AND ADMIRE, SO I AM GOING TO TURN OVER A NEW LEAF AND BE GOOD FROM NOW ON.”  

“GYAAAAHHHH!  Stop butting in on my fantasies!”

Painting started out better than the last time.  Papyrus could not entirely remember how things had gotten so out of hand last time.  

He wished he had gotten a chance to help out with setting up Undyne and Alphys’ nursery, but Alphys had done most of it.  She had assembled all the furniture and had fancy science fiction walls that let her decorate them with whatever pattern she wanted.  She mostly seemed to be using it to project her favorite baby cartoon characters, but once their child was old enough to have interests of its own, she could easily change it to reflect them.  

They took a break for Undyne to wash off her hand.  She made them both tea, too, and Papyrus got out a box of little bone shaped cookies that he liked.  He wondered if Undyne was feeling okay, because she just nibbled at one instead of taking six like she did with the cookies she put out at her own house.  

“THE BABY IS COMING SOON!  YOU MUST BE EXCITED?”  

“Yeah!  Hell yeah!  And sometimes I feel like puking!  Most of the time!  Just a fountain of puke shooting out of my mouth towards the sky when I remember I’m going to be a mom!”  

“UM.  THAT DOES NOT SOUND ENTIRELY HEALTHY, UNDYNE.  YOU ARE GOING TO BE A VERY GOOD MOM!”  

“I know!  I can’t wait until the little brat’s old enough that I can teach it how to throw a punch!  Or…maybe it will take after Alphys?”  She grinned, thinking about it.  "I can watch it learn how to blow stuff up!  I can’t wait!“  She sipped her tea. "Still feel like throwing up all the time, though.”  

“I THINK MOST MONSTERS ARE A LITTLE NERVOUS.  NOT ME!  BUT IT IS COMPLETELY UNSURPRISING THAT YOU WOULD FEEL THIS WAY.”  

She fiddled with her tea bag.  "My parents kicked it so early, for a long time I was like, 'how the hell am I supposed to know how to do this?’  I was _completely_ freaking out!  But there was Gerson!  And Asgore!  And other people who helped me out!  So I actually have a lot to work off of, even if I only barely remember my actual parents." 

"THAT’S TRUE!”  Papyrus did not remember his own father, of course.  Sometimes he would see something out of the corner of his eye or a smell would hit him and it would feel strangely familiar, and for an odd moment he would wonder if someone was there in the room with him.  It would not frighten him at all.  He wondered if his father was watching him, somehow, wherever he was.  It was comforting.

It did not tell him anything useful about how to raise a child, however, no matter how comforting.  He had read numerous books, and thought he was prepared, but he had no direct memories to draw from.  He supposed there was Sans, who must have been the one to take care of him, but his memories were strange and unhelpful there, too.  What had his brother done when he was very young and cried and would not stop?  

Maybe someone else had taken care of him when he was a baby bones. He sure wished he could remember!  He was positive he was going to do an amazing job, but it wouldn’t hurt to have something to build off of.  

They finished their tea break.  Papyrus set up the fan to push the fumes out of the door since the windows were covered, and Undyne started to dump paint into the roller pan.  She paused.  "This color is great, but we’re ruining it putting it on the walls this way.  What a color like this needs is a more passionate delivery!  If we just gently roll it on like wimpy toddlers than people are going to be able to tell!  They’re going to walk in and sense the lack of passion!"

"I AGREE BUT LAST TIME WE WERE VERY PASSIONATE AND DID NOT EVEN COVER EVERYTHING,” Papyrus said.  He had to go back later and get what they missed.  

“That just means we need to be MORE PASSIONATE!”  She held up the paint can, considering it.  She looked at the fan, and then back at the can.  "…I know exactly what we’re going to do."

The fan wasn’t powerful enough to spread the paint very far, but Undyne was not completely done being inspired.  They closed the door and she started to spin one of her magic spears.  

"ALL RIGHT!”  It spun faster and faster.  "Let’s do this!  Dump it in!“  

It was difficult to not be inspired by her passion!  Papyrus tossed the paint can into the spinning death spear.

-

There was a light on in the kitchen when Grillby – drooping and tired, his bowtie already off and shoved into his pocket – arrived home.  Sometimes Sans woke up around when Grillby usually got home and hung out in the kitchen hoping for another dinner.  Grillby didn’t mind.

Papyrus was also awake.  His face and hands were covered in some kind of red.  He and Sans sat at the kitchen table.  

“…is that…”  

They looked up.  A number of cleaning items were on the table – paper towels, windex, an abrasive scrub pad, and so on.  Grillby had never seen so many things used to clean near Sans.  

“………ketchup?” he finished.  It looked almost like Sans had stuck a small explosive in a ketchup bottle, and his poor brother had been the victim.  

“oops, grillbz is outta the loop.  someone’d better _catch_ him _up_ ,” Sans said, winking.  

Grillby was unfortunately all too aware of what dried ketchup looked like, though, so it was clear once he got closer that it could not be a condiment.  

“THE GOOD NEWS IS: BOTH BEDROOMS ARE PAINTED NOW!”  Papyrus said.  "MASTERFULLY COMPLETED!"

"…that’s…"

"yep.  paint.”

Papyrus suddenly looked worried.  "I BELIEVE I CAN TASTE IT?"

"uhoh.”  Sans got up and tracked down the flashlight they kept in the junk drawer.  He ambled back, not in any particular hurry, and shone the light in Papyrus’ eye socket.  He peered in.  “welp.  i see it.”  

“Would it…come off easier if I heated it up?”  Grillby asked, curious.  

“uh.  that’d probably just bake it on,” Sans said.  

“Not if the temperature was hot enough,” Grillby said.  

“at that point, the bone would get brittle,” Sans said.  "i hate to say it, but i don’t think fire is the answer, here."

"Impossible,” Grillby joked.  He decided to leave Sans to help his brother.  

Papyrus looked very worried about the butter knife Sans was aiming at his eye socket.  Grillby opened the fridge to figure out what to make for dinner.  Maybe he didn’t want to watch whatever Sans was doing.  

“so, here’s some advice,” Sans said.  "next time undy has a bright idea, maybe stop and think it through."

"BUT SHE WAS RIGHT!  YOU CAN TELL, JUST LOOKING AT THE ROOM, HOW MUCH PASSION THE PAINT WAS APPLIED WITH!  I DO NOT REGRET IT AT ALL, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO SCRAPE OUT THE ENTIRE INSIDE OF MY SKULL!”  

“ew.”

“I WOULD REGRET NOT COVERING MY FACE, BUT IF WE WERE MORE CAREFUL, WOULD IT HAVE HAD THE SAME EFFECT?  I AM NOT SURE.”  

“maybe you just need to wear safety goggles, bro,” Sans said.  "just wake up and strap ‘em on."

"HMM.  OR!  I WOULD BE LESS SAFE, BUT MORE SAFE THAN I AM NOW, IF I JUST WORE VERY COOL SUNGLASSES ALL THE TIME!”  

“true.”  

“EVERYONE WOULD DECIDE I WAS JUST BEING INCREDIBLY STYLISH, AS I ALWAYS AM ANYWAY.”  

“ok.  here goes.”  

“I PROMISE I WILL ONLY CRY A LITTLE, THIS TIME!  JUST A REASONABLE AMOUNT.”  

“just try to hold off until i’m done.”  

Grillby was glad he was not a skeleton.  Having a completely solid form sounded incredibly inconvenient.    "Don’t you use your head like a second wallet?" he asked Sans.  

"BROTHER!  PLEASE DON’T TELL ME YOU DO THAT!”  

“thanks, grillbz.”  

“THAT’S DISGUSTING??  OH MY GOD???”  

Once Sans had a method, the paint came off easily.  Papyrus left to take a shower to get rid of anything lingering, and Grillby and Sans sat and ate dinner.  

“you ready to have your house invaded?”  Sans asked.  

“I think so.”  Grillby was curious how the other bedroom looked, now, but he would wait a few days before checking.  If it was messy, he was sure Papyrus would clean it up and make it look perfect.  The baby’s room was impeccable now that the windows had been scraped clean.  "It’s amazing how confident he is.  I would be terrified.“

"nah, he is,” Sans said.  "he’s all over the place, and it’s worse since yesterday.  maybe almost being done setting up is drilling it in.  so be extra nice to him, ok?"

Grillby nodded.  "Has he been sleeping?”

“nope.”  

Grillby got up and poured a glass of milk.  He warmed it up.  When Papyrus drank milk right before Sans read to him, he was more likely to fall asleep.  Sans preferred to try that before he tried the much more drastic, last resort measure: actually talking to Papyrus about not sleeping.  

Taking care of Papyrus was Sans’ primary job when it came to helping out with the kids.  Grillby wasn’t sure what his own role would be.  

–

“SANS, INSTEAD OF A STORY, WOULD YOU MIND ANSWERING A QUESTION?”

Sans closed the book he was holding.  "how about i answer your question and read you a story anyway?  not really a chore for me, bro."

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE THE QUESTION.”  

Sans shrugged.  "shoot."

"ALL RIGHT.”  Papyrus’ blankets were pulled up to his chin.  He looked slightly worried, and not at all tired.  "I HAVE FOUND MYSELF WONDERING WHAT MY BEDROOM LOOKED LIKE.  WHEN I WAS A BABY BONES."

Sans looked away, for a second.  "uh.  lemme think.  you had wallpaper with little cartoon bones and skulls all over it.  dad put it up himself, so it was, uh, really bad and it started to peel off pretty fast.”

“HE MUST HAVE KNOWN HOW MUCH I WOULD GROW UP TO LOVE BONES!” Papyrus said, delighted.  

“…yeah.  once you started crawling around, you grabbed a loose piece and yanked it and tried to eat it.  you really loved those bones.”  

Papyrus went quiet, thinking.  Sans opened up the book, but Papyrus started talking again before he started reading.  "I WONDER IF I HAVE PROPERLY BABY-PROOFED THE HOUSE?  I HAVE HEARD THAT VERY YOUNG SLIMES WILL ABSORB ANYTHING THEY GO OVER, EVEN IF IT IS BAD FOR THEM."

"they don’t know better.”

“YES.”  Papyrus started to sit up.  

Sans put his hand on his shoulder and pushed, gently.  "tomorrow, bro."

"IT _IS_ TOMORROW,” Papyrus said.  "OR ELSE YOU ARE TRYING TO BE CLEVER AND TRICK ME, SINCE TOMORROW IS AN UNREACHABLE STATE OF TIME."

"tomorrow’s after you’ve napped a while,” Sans said.  "you gotta get your rest now because kids won’t let you.  you’re already driving grillbz up the wall."

"DID HE SAY THAT?”  

“nah.  he’s too polite.”  Also he hadn’t said that because Sans was lying.  Grillby had barely noticed Papyrus’ mood.

“WELL, THEN I WILL WAIT UNTIL HE IS AT WORK BEFORE I START,” Papyrus decided.  

“you know, bro,” Sans said.  "asking about stuff doesn’t get to me _that_ much.  i can… _throw you a bone_ –" He laughed when Papyrus groaned  "–and answer whatever.  it’s not a big deal."  Even if it did bug him, Sans was pretty sure he got why Papyrus was asking.  He couldn’t turn him down.

"I SHOULD THROW A BONE AT YOU FOR ALWAYS TELLING THE SAME AWFUL JOKES,” Papyrus grumbled.  "BUT, THANK YOU!  IT TURNS OUT THAT HAVING NO MEMORY OF BEING A CHILD IS MAKING ME FEEL A LITTLE…UNPREPARED?  I KNOW IT IS STRANGE TO THINK OF ME THAT WAY, BUT EVEN THOUGH OF COURSE I WILL EXCEL AT THIS, IT _IS_ THE VERY FIRST TIME I HAVE ATTEMPTED IT."

"you’re gonna be great.”  

“OF COURSE!”  

Sans nodded and started to read.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did write about Alphys and Undyne having a kid, [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9200663), if you're curious how that goes.


	7. Chapter 7

“Nah, I like this place,” Braise said.  "I would’ve gone to his place even when we hated each other if I didn’t have to go through friggin Waterfall just for a drink."

"why not?”  Sans asked.  "nothing better for working up a thirst."  He’d been a little surprised to see Grillby’s brother just casually hanging out at the bar.  

"Can see how it’d drive me to drink,” he said.  

Sans snorted.  He was curious about his brother-in-law, about how long he planned to stick around, and what his intentions were.  Maybe he could prod a little bit and find out.  "i think grillbz likes having you around," Sans said.  

"We’ll see how long _that_ lasts,” he said.  

That didn’t tell him anything.  "you meeting up with someone here?"  Sans asked.  

"I’m not that much of a shit that I’d invite ‘em here,” he said.  "Maybe me and Grillby never get along forever, but I’m not pushing it."

Sans squirted a little ketchup into his drink and stirred it until it was nicely mixed in.  "it’s a shame, though, right?  that he’s not giving it a shot.”  Sans didn’t think so, but he wanted to know what the brother thought.  

Braise shrugged.  "There’s no way in hell I’m putting myself in the middle of _that_ shit.  We’ve got different ways of dealing."

"yeah.  maybe you’re right,” Sans said.  

“It’s kind’ve…”  He looked over Sans’ head, towards the bar.  "He ever tell you what it was like, right after they ran off?"

"a little,” Sans lied.  "pretty sparse on details, though."

"It was tough for everyone.  Even Fryen was sure they’d stick around.  I mean, Mom expected a divorce, but none of us predicted they’d just disappear like they did.  She felt pretty guilty.  Like, she knew the marriage wasn’t lasting, but now someone we needed was gone because they couldn’t stand to be around her?  That was tough to take.”  Braise sipped his drink.  "Been thinking about this a lot, I guess.  I acted up.  Fell in with the wrong crowd.  By the time I was over it, all my friends were just the kind of people who’d keep egging you on.  I was that kind of guy, too, by that point."

"kids act up,” Sans said, shrugging.  

“Right.  He didn’t.”  He nodded towards the bar.  "Man, it pissed me off.  I was angry about everything, but he was just…cold.  Seemed like he moved right on like they hadn’t meant anything.  I didn’t get it.  Mom knew he wasn’t really okay, but she had her hands full with me and didn’t know what to do, either."

"like you said, though.  you deal with this stuff different.”

“He wasn’t dealing with it.  I was skipping school and smoking with my friends.  He exploded and almost killed another kid over some…”  He looked away.  "You know, I never found out what the fight was about?  It was something petty.  Or, not worth what he did."

Sans wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear this.  "he wasn’t dealing with it.”  

“Right.  He’d never done anything like that before, so they didn’t kick him out.  He just got suspended.  Mom punished him, but no one had any idea what to do.  Fire monsters his age just…didn’t do that.”  He leaned back.  "I thought it was funny.  He thought he was so perfect, right?  And then he has a tantrum like a toddler.  He was freaked out right after it happened, but in a couple days he was the same as ever.  Like, as an adult with a kid I’m thinking about it and, wow.  Those are some alarm bells going off.“

Sans wondered how old Grillby had been, when that happened.  

"So, anyway, that’s when Grandma comes by and says she wants Grillby to help her out with some chores, for gold.  He jumped on that.  Probably had his sights set on a fancy spatula or something.”

“i know he snuck in food for the other kids at school.  like, they’d pay him so they didn’t have to eat the gross stuff they served there.  maybe it lines up and he wanted to, uh, finance the idea.”

“He did that?”  Braise laughed.  "What a shit.  It’s like this.“  He held up one of the special menus.  Sans recognized it was the one with the flaming drinks.  "How does he get away with charging this much?”

“grillbz hated the crowd that came in for those, so he upped the prices a little, but they just kept coming in,” Sans said. “he’s upped it every few months since then, and they’re still knocking down the door ordering off that menu.”  

“See, I’ve got a reputation, so everyone’d say I was pulling a scam.  Grillby?  He gets away with it.”

“maybe you’re just not cut out to be a crook,” Sans said.  

“Yeah, I think you’ve got something there,” he said.  

Sans was quiet.  Braise had been leading up to something with his story, and Sans was curious what it was.  "hey.  you know, since we’ve got her dust in the living room, i’ve been wondering about that old lady," Sans said.  

"Oh, right.  Yeah, I was never that close to her.  What _was_ she like?  I guess what’s important is that she was pretty even tempered.  And I think she really knew what was going on in my brother’s head, even if he didn’t want to talk about it.  He does her dishes for a few weeks and suddenly he’s picking fights with me.  I didn’t like him before that, but we never really got into anything serious.  I could say whatever I wanted and he wouldn’t get mad.   _That_ sure changed.”  He shrugged.  "It’s a shame we couldn’t get along, but, looking back, us hating each other just _openly_ was a lot better for his head than us getting along because he swallowed everything."

"right.”

“I’m telling you this because maybe you don’t get that them leaving wasn’t a non-event in our lives.  They were gone like we didn’t even mean anything.  I think it was my fifth stint in prison with Mom still showing up to visit when it sunk in there wasn’t anything I could do to chase her off.  It hit us in kind of…a basic part of us, messed that up, and it was still messing us up long after we thought we were over it.  So if he doesn’t want to just shrug his shoulders and play nice with the one who did that to us, well.” He shrugged.  "That’s fine by me."

Sans nodded.  "yeah, i get what you’re saying.”  He stirred his drink again and took a sip.  "i shouldn’t try to _match_ 'em up even if i think there’ll be a _tinder_ family moment.   i’d hate to have him _burn up_ at me and get left _fuming_."

Braise downed the last of his own drink.  "You know why I think I can get along with him better now that he’s married?  If he picked someone like you, he’s gotta be secretly a huge weirdo.  It’s nice to know.”  

“eh.  not a secret,” Sans said.  Braise was all right, but Grillby would have been trying not to laugh by the end of that. “thanks, by the way.  probably shouldn’t’ve told me all that, but, eh.”

“Now I’ve just gotta figure out how to say it to _them_ ,” Braise said.  "Without flipping out.  Can’t stand their face. They’re like, 'why is everyone sooo mad at me?  I’m just a tired old monster who wants to spend time with their kids.’  What a crock of shit."

"you could just give up on it.”

He shook his head.  "Not yet."

Grillby appeared through the crowd.  He nodded at them.

"you taking a break, for once?”  Sans asked.

He sat down.  

“I get a discount 'cause I’m family, right?”  Braise asked.

“…no.  What are you talking about, over here?”  

“you,” Sans said.  

“……”  He looked worried.

“If I set my own drink on fire, do I have to pay extra?” Braise asked.

“No.  That can be your discount.”

“Great.”

Sans tapped his empty glass, sadly.  "he was just telling me it warmed his heart knowing that since you married me, you have to be a ‘huge weirdo.’"  

“Who said that?”  Braise asked.  

“i don’t think your bro likes my jokes.”  

Grillby patted his shoulder.  "No one does, Sans."

"you’re pretty lucky you’re fire already.  anyone else’s pants would be on fire telling that big a lie.”  

“Awful,” Grillby said.  

Sans nudged him.  "you’re trying not to laugh."

"Just out of shock because it was so terrible.”

“there’s no saving your dignity, here.  you married me.”  

“…that’s…true.”  He looked briefly forlorn.  "Maybe I think it’s funny, imagining your pants on fire the next time _you_ lie.“  

"oh, man, grillbz,” Sans said.  "keep that kinda talk for when we’re alone.“  He winked.

Grillby got up and left.  

"love you too,” Sans called after him.  "break’s over, i guess.  anyway, yeah, he’s pretty weird."

"I don’t think I need to get married again,” Braise said, for no clear reason that Sans could see.  


	8. Chapter 8

Grillby walked in his home and found his living room rug missing.  He checked around, figuring Papyrus had moved it to clean it.  He located it rolled up in Sans’ storage.  He brought it back, confused, and then started to notice that many of his other belongings had been moved. Everything that had been reachable from the floor, actually.  

The outlets all had little plastic plugs in them.  Grillby realized that if he hadn’t run off looking for his rug, he could have immediately solved the mystery.  

The situation was the same in the rest of the house, too.  He tried to plug in his laptop to send off a couple emails, and struggled for several minutes trying to get access to an outlet.  The children would probably quickly learn how to take out the plugs, but the house was now Grillby-proof.  

It was too late for this.  He gave up and went to bed.  

Sans was awake in bed, paging through a children’s book of magic tricks.  It had a human on the cover.  Did human children learn magic?  Sans looked up when Grillby came in and took off his glasses.

“hey, hot stuff,” Sans said.  There were shadows under his eye sockets.  

Grillby nodded.  If he was so tired, why wasn’t he sleeping?  Usually if he woke up and waited for Grillby, he came out and bugged him for food as soon as he got in the door.  

Sans watched him get changed, but his expression was blank like he was focusing past Grillby instead of on him.  

“………how do I look?”  

“huh?”  He mentally returned to the room.  "oh, heh.  c'mere and i’ll tell you.“  He patted the bed next to him.  

Grillby scanned the bed for hidden pranks and climbed in.  

"i don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, grillbz,” Sans said,  leaning in like he was going to tell Grillby an important secret.  Like he wasn’t just going to call him some variation of _hot_.  “you’re kind’ve hot stuff in those pjs i gave you." 

Grillby had gotten things to wear to bed from old boyfriends, before. Those had been embarrassing to wear in public for an entirely different reason.  

The flannel pants were just covered in cartoony snack foods.  Grillby understood that.  He could follow the logic that had made Sans see those pants and decide he needed to acquire them for his husband. The shirt, however, baffled him.  It was set up like it was supposed to say "I <3 you,” but instead of the heart, there was a hamburger.  "I hamburger you.“  No matter how many times Grillby thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.  

He had asked Sans, and he just said "clever, right?” and winked.  Grillby had said “No,” but he still had no explanation.  

At least the odd things Sans bought him were comfortable to sleep in.

“…do i look……good enough to eat?”  Grillby tried.  He had a hamburger on his chest, after all.

“nah.  wow.  way to make it weird.”  

Grillby covered Sans’ face with a pillow.  

“i mean, do you look at people and think about that?  i don’t wanna know that about you.”  He peeked out over the pillow.  

Grillby considered him.  "…you would be best in a…soup broth."

"nope.  that’s it.  usually you make the divorce joke.  it’s my turn.  i’m out.”  He didn’t move.  "marriage canceled."

"If it helps, I don’t like soup.”

“yeah ok.  i’ll uncancel it.”  

“You’re too lazy to divorce me.”  

“damn.  guess i’m trapped.  oh well.”  He yawned and put the pillow back in its regular position.  

Grillby kissed him on the cheek and settled down.  "…bad day?"

"eh.”  He rubbed at his eye sockets.  "yeah.  i did it to myself, grillbz.  i said, ‘go ahead and ask me whatever’ and it turned out he had more than two total questions."

"What?”  Who had Sans even been talking to?  

“oh.  i told bro he could ask me something, and he, you know, did.”  

“…shocking.”  

“i know, right?”  He shrugged.  "anyway, it kinda stressed me out.  that’s all."

"Tell him…knock it off?”

“nah.  he just wants to know how we set stuff up for him.  like, when he was a baby.  not really a big deal.  just wears me out.”

“He’s very prepared, now,” Grillby said.  "I can’t plug anything in and all my rugs are gone."

"heh.”

“He must be almost done.  So he won’t have any more questions.”

“there’ll be more.  and at some point he’s gonna ask the tough ones, and i’m just going to have to tell him.”  

Grillby nodded.  There were a number of things that Sans thought his brother deserved to know.  He just didn’t want to be the one to have to have that conversation.  

He gestured for Sans to come and lie a little closer.  

Sans eyed him, wary.  "you’re thinking about soup right now."

Grillby waited.

Sans sighed and shifted over.  "well, i had a good run, anyway.”

“Yes.”  Grillby hugged him and Sans buried his face in the hamburger shirt.  "…I’m a little proud of you for telling him….even though it’s hard."

"he’ll want to know how he died,” Sans said.  "that’ll be the hard one."

”…you were there, right?  When it happened."

"mhm.  not a great time.”  

“…………no.”  

Grillby could sense someone moving elsewhere in the house.    The skeleton brothers did not give off as much heat as most creatures, but they still gave off some.  Papyrus must be up.  There was usually too much activity for Grillby to try and track motion, but late at night, when things were quiet and still, he almost couldn’t help but notice.  

Sans spoke quietly.  "maybe i can leave off that part forever, but there’s one thing i gotta tell him."

"But you can’t?”  

“i’ve even tried, grillbz, if you believe it.”  He was barely audible.  "it’s just a pain in the tailbone, so i give up."

"……"

"what’s funny?”  He shifted, like he was trying to see Grillby’s face.  

“Sorry.  It’s…a familiar problem.”  

“heh.  different problem, same result.  i guess.”  

He nodded.

“whole lotta nothing.”  

“Try not to dwell on the failures.  It makes it easier to keep trying.”  He wasn’t sure “don’t think about it” was great advice, but it was the best he had.

“tough to keep banging your skull on the wall when all you get every time’s a headache and an intact wall,” Sans said.  

“If it’s…that kind of wall, go around it.”  He clarified, “Write it down?”  

“nah.  or, hey.  i could try telling you first.”  

“If it helps.”  He was used to being told things he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.  Sometimes people just needed to get things out, and he considered it part of his job to listen.  

“ok.”  

“Do you want to?”

“nah.  but it’d be easier to tell you.  don’t know why.”  

“You don’t see me as a child.”

“or maybe 'cause i’m used to talking to you after i’ve had a few.”

“…also likely.”  

“heh.”  Sans was quiet for a little while.  "you’ll keep this to yourself, right?  ok."

Grillby had no idea if there was something he could do to help make it easier to talk about.  

"ok,” he said, again.  "you know how paps doesn’t remember dad at all?"

He nodded.  "He was very young.”

“nope.  he was in high school when, uh, it happened.”

“…………what?”  

“i don’t want to get that into it.  he was sorta hit by…” He trailed off.  "yeah, i don’t know how to say this."

"He……has no idea?”

“i think he gets now that most people don’t have, uh, blank gaps in their memory.  i don’t think he’s connected 'em specifically with pops, though.  it’s weird that’s what happened, so why’d he guess that?”  

“Wait.  He just doesn’t remember your dad?”  

“weird, right?”  

There was so much Sans was not explaining.  Grillby was pretty sure Sans knew exactly what happened, and why.  "I could tell him."

"no.”  Sans looked up.  The lights in his eye sockets were clear and bright.  He seemed to stare straight through Grillby, his gaze intense and uncomfortable.  "you said you’d keep it quiet."

Grillby hadn’t made that promise, but he knew that being technical when Sans was so off-balance would be like kicking him in the teeth. Sans hadn’t waited to make sure he said "yes” because he trusted him.  "But he should know.  And if it’s easier for me to say it…"  

"no,” he repeated.  "should’ve kept it to myself."

"No!  I won’t say anything.”  

“if someone tells him, i know it’s gotta be me.  should’ve told him before.  thought i was helping.”  His voice kept getting quieter.  "like, he’d have it easier just starting from scratch. or, i dunno.  i just didn’t want to deal."

"…I don’t think…anyone would want to deal with that…"

"yeah.”  

Grillby sat up.  Sans’ hand slid down onto the bed.  

“you’re lookin’ _well done_ with me,” Sans said.  

“What?”  Oh, his shirt.  "Sans, I don’t understand any of this."  He shook his head.  "That doesn’t matter.  Did it help?”  

“what.  oh.  telling you?”  He shrugged and sat up.  

“I promise I won’t tell him.”  

“and don’t do anything tricky like tell someone else to tell him either,” Sans said.  

“I actually want you to trust me.”

“ok good.  'cause i’m really serious about this.  maybe it sounds like i’m… _hamming_ it up,” he said, winking, “but i mean it.”

“I am never wearing this shirt again.”  

“aw, c'mon.   _lettuce_ have another shot at it.   _meat_ me halfway, here.”

“No.  Well, I’ll still wear the pants, so.”  That technically counted.  

“aw, thanks for that, grillbz.”  He started to snicker. “it’d be a shame–” he broke off, chuckling.  "it’d be a shame–a shame if–"

"Sans.”  Part of him wanted Sans to keep the terrible joke to himself, but a darker part of him was curious.  

Sans bent over, covering his face, silently laughing.  

Grillby patted him on the back.  "Take your time."

"grillbz.”  He looked up.  There were tears in his eye sockets.  "it’d be a shame if i couldn’t see your buns in those.“  He lost it, completely.

Grillby sighed.  

"your…your…hamburger–”

“No, no…I got it the first time.”

Sans wiped at his eyes.  "whew.  all these great jokes really tire me out."

"Do you think you can sleep, now?”

“eh, well.”  He shrugged.  "let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here."

"…we could watch a movie.  But your brother is…"  He looked away.  "…skull-king around out there."

"yeah, my bro’s the king of those,” Sans said.  "no big deal.  i’m not like avoiding him.  maybe we can get him to sit down if we put on something he likes."

Grillby nodded.  That often meant they would watch infomercials about kitchen gadgets, since Grillby liked those, too.  Sans found them peaceful to sleep through.  

-

Papyrus was reluctant to join them in front of the television, but he seemed to sense something off in Sans’ mood, and eventually sat down next to him.  He and Grillby discussed whether certain gadgets were worth the money while Sans lightly dozed.  

Papyrus was quiet for a while, and when Grillby checked, Papyrus’ head was lolling back and he was almost asleep.  Sans winked at Grillby.  When Grillby looked again, Papyrus had slid towards them and he was using the top of Sans’ skull as a pillow.  Sans had also nodded off again.  

Grillby wanted to take a picture.  Even with the obnoxious snoring from both of them, it was adorable.  He was afraid that if he moved, he would wake them up, so he stayed still.  

He woke up a couple hours later.  The television was still on.  Sans was gone, and Papyrus had continued his slide until his head was against Grillby’s arm.  That was a little less cute, Grillby decided, and he wondered where Sans was.  He started to shift over, but Sans came in from the kitchen before he did more than move his legs.  

Sans wiped crumbs off his face and shook his head.  Grillby pointed at Papyrus.  Sans shook his head, again.  Of course he didn’t want Grillby to risk waking up Papyrus.  Grillby tried pointing towards Papyrus’ bedroom door.  Sans shook his head, emphatic.  They communicated in complete silence.  

Sans finally walked over and lay down in the gap between Grillby and Papyrus, his head on Grillby’s lap, trapping him in place.  Grillby poked him in the skull, and Sans winked.  

“night,” he said, quiet.  

“…fine,” Grillby said.  

Papyrus snored.  


	9. Chapter 9

Grillby didn’t end up regretting letting Papyrus sleep on him. Papyrus didn’t even nap at all for the rest of the week.  They had decided to schedule the children’s move for when the older one had a long weekend so there was a time for her to settle in.  But that meant the house and Papyrus were completely ready, and he had nothing to do when he was at home other than fuss around redoing things he had already done and worry.  

The timing was not very good, but Grillby had been hoping Sans would talk to his brother about what he had told Grillby.  Sans was still putting it off.  Grillby was sure that there never would be a good time, so he should just get it over with.  

He decided not to bring it up.  Sans was completely aware that he should tell his brother.  There was no magic and there were no words that would make that easier for him.  

He carried a glass of warm milk to Papyrus’ bedroom, and set it on the side table.  Sans was sitting in his chair next to Papyrus’ bed. They were trying to team up and get him to sleep, again, but Papyrus’ eye sockets were wide open.  He barely seemed to be paying attention to Sans’ story, but he would have been upset if they had skipped the usual routine.

“…are you sure you don’t want something else in this?” Grillby asked.  

“STOP ASKING IF YOU CAN SPIKE MY MILK!”  Papyrus said.

“don’t think it’s spiking if you ask,” Sans said.  

“…I’m not sure,” Grillby said.  

“well, if you don’t know, no one does.”

“I DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT THIS AT ALL,” Papyrus said. “JUST LOOK IN THE DICTIONARY AND GET BACK TO THE STORY!”

“wow,” Sans said.

“…SORRY,” Papyrus said.  "I MUST ENDEAVOR TO BE MORE OF A ROLE MODEL IN MY BEHAVIOR!"

Grillby leaned against the door frame and watched Sans read to his brother.  His work schedule rarely gave him the chance to listen in, and he liked the ways Sans’ voice sounded when he read.  There was a gentleness that was otherwise absent.  

And when Sans was in a very good mood, he did funny voices.  Grillby wasn’t sure which he enjoyed more.

Sans read a chapter out of one of Papyrus’ favorite puzzle manuals, and Grillby started to leave.  Papyrus pushed the blanket away when Sans tried to tuck him in.  

"hey, bro,” Sans said.  "can i talk a sec?"

"I KNOW I SHOULD SLEEP, OR AT LEAST THAT YOU THINK I SHOULD SLEEP, BUT IT IS NOT HAPPENING,” Papyrus said.  "SO I MIGHT AS WELL GET SOMETHING USEFUL DONE!  THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT WASTE EVEN A SECOND!"

"nah, that’s not what it’s about.”  

“FINE!  BUT IF THIS IS THE SETUP FOR A JOKE, I AM GOING TO BE MIFFED, MY BROTHER.”  

“everything’s a setup for a joke if you look at it right.  but, uh.  it’s not really, uh.”  Sans scratched the back of his head.

Grillby closed the door behind him and went into the kitchen.  

The next time he saw Papyrus, he looked more tired than Grillby had ever seen him.  He sat at the dining room table with a glass of milk and a parenting book he didn’t appear to actually be reading.

“…do you want something in your milk?”  Grillby asked.  

“NO THANK YOU,” Papyrus said.  

Grillby waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t seem to realize that Grillby was even still there.  

The next time he saw Sans, he asked him how his conversation with Papyrus went.

“it went,” Sans said.  "‘bout all i can say about it.“ He shrugged.

”…it’s a good thing, you did.“

"would’ve been a better thing a few years ago.”  

Grillby couldn’t really argue that.  "But it’s done now.“

"yeah.”  

Papyrus slowly picked himself up.  Sans got a long call from Undyne, and Grillby had to leave the house while she was talking to avoid hearing the entire thing.  On one hand, Grillby wished she would mind her own business, but on the other hand, how wasn’t Papyrus her business?  Sans’ mood picked up after her call, like it was a relief to be properly told off.  

Grillby came home one night and Papyrus was passed out on the couch. He woke up the next morning and it was like nothing had happened. Sleep had hit his reset button, as far as Grillby could tell.  

“…are you feeling better?” Grillby asked.  He meant _are you faking feeling better?_ , but he couldn’t bring himself to actually ask that.  

“I DON’T HAVE TIME TO BE DOWN ANYMORE!”  Papyrus said. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NOT KNOWN FOR BEING GREAT BECAUSE OF HIS IMPRESSIVE MOPING SKILL.  HE IS ALWAYS READY TO PICK HIMSELF UP AND LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE!  THE PAST IS GONE!  APPARENTLY, FOR ME, THIS IS MORE LITERAL THAN IT IS FOR MOST OTHER PEOPLE!"  He frowned.  "BUT I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AN EXCEPTION.  AND IF IT IS YOUR GOAL TO BE 'EXCEPTIONAL’ YOU MUST ALSO ACCEPT BEING AN EXCEPTION.”  

“…but…”  He wasn’t sure he trusted this.

“I FEEL BETTER THAN I DID BEFORE?  PERHAPS THAT SEEMS STRANGE, TO YOU, BUT DESPITE WHAT MY BROTHER BELIEVES, I PREFER TO HAVE AN ANSWER I DISLIKE THAN NO ANSWER WHATSOEVER.  I CAN ALWAYS PULL FROM MY IMPRESSIVE RESERVE OF STRENGTH, AND MOVE ON!”  

“…true.”  

Papyrus always turned out to be stronger than Grillby expected.  He should give him more credit.  

“NYEH HEH HEH HEH!  OF COURSE I AM CORRECT.”

Grillby nodded.  


	10. Chapter 10

_*oh hey alph u ever get what i asked for_

_*Wow, HI SANS!  NICE TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN, TOO!_

_*oh sorry HI ALPHYS_

_*ok never do that again that was really creepy??  i’m breaking the caps on your phone next time i see you_

_*ok.  I’D BETTER GET SOME USE OUT OF IT NOW THEN_

_*noooooooooo go away i’m never doing another favor for you OMG_

_*ok ok it was weirding me out too did you get it_

_*Not all of it?  Address + all the government records, though.  No sign of outstanding debt, so that’s good, right?_

_*now that ive met em i dont think that was it anyway_

_*I, uh, also found their medical records and, uh, pleeeeeeease dont tell anyone i did that because i feel reeeally gross about it.  ^.^ Gross violation of some stranger’s privacy!!  All in a day’s work for the great Dr. Alphys!  ^.^_

_*are they sick or what_

_*just normal old age fire stuff age standard loss of “mass” + fatigue they aren’t like dying?_

_*ok so there goes idea #2_

_*Maybe they just missed their kids?_

_*yeah but why now  
*eh if it isnt a scam and they arent about to kick it i dont care_

_*I bet it just took them twenty years to suck it up and stop being a piece of shit!  I know that feeling!!!!!!_

_*heh well they still got some work to do there  
*anyway thanks thats all i needed_

_*thanks??  that’s all i get????_

_*oh right_

_*We Had A Deal, Sir_

_*right right got it_

_*And I don’t want to have to keep bugging you about it when you said you’d get it!  I want it before the week’s out, or I’m not doing crap like this for you again!!!!  Ok?  =^.^=_

_*k_

_*IT’S NOT AN IDLE THREAT EVEN IF YOU’RE MY FRIEND!  Ok?  =^.^=_

_*uh k pal  
*youll get your creepy anime figure before u know it_

_*creeeepy?  right you have bad taste i almost forgot lmao_

_*look you can threaten me and ill get it but you cant make me look you in the eyes when i hand it over_

_*Who cares what someone with such horrible taste thinks about anything!!!  
*Oh Undyne’s having a BBQ in a couple weeks and she told me to invite you?  are you in?_

_*why?  she already invited bro and the kids i just figured i was coming_

_*I mean of course but I think she either 1. wants to be sure you’re there to yell at you in person or 2. wants to apologize for yelling at you on the phone?  I don’t think she’s even sure which way it’s going to go?_

_*nah she doesnt have to worry about that we’re cool_

_*Also possibly 3. she wants the bartender who hangs around with you to know he’s invited to so he can sneak in and take over grilling because he’s waaaaaaaaaaay better at it than we are_

_*she always looks like she’s gonna cry when i bring her a burger_

_*It’s probably sort of all three of those?  I don’t know.  You’re invited!!!_

_*great thanks_

Sans shoved his phone back into his pocket.  

Nothing was “resolved,” exactly.  He was pretty sure whatever was going on wasn’t a scam, and it didn’t sound like the old monster was on their death bed.  Those were the two scenarios Sans could think of where Grillby and his brother probably needed to know what was up.  

He could quit being nosy and worrying about it, he figured.  If Grillby changed his mind about Kindling, it was going to be years down the line with them showing they could stick around.  It was a wait and see kind of problem.

The doorbell rang, and Sans heard his brother stomp from one end of the house to the other.  He could make out every word his brother said, but not a word from his guests, so Sans just had to guess the way the conversation was going.  

They were in the living room, talking.  Sans got out of bed and got a little closer.  He hung around behind them, out of sight, but watching.  

Sans recognized the human woman from a number of Papyrus’ office parties he’d crashed over the years.  She had a plastic sling on, and a little bundle of slime was quietly burbling in their sleep against her chest.  The car ride probably knocked ‘em right out.

The other kid was standing next to her, smushed up against the woman’s pant leg.  He could read the grief and fear right off of her.  The kid’s whole life had been thrown for a loop, and now she was getting moved again probably right as she was settling in. 

Papyrus led the group to the little girl’s new bedroom.  She seemed to perk up.  Good.  Maybe she hated moving again, but she liked the idea of not having to share a room with a baby, anymore.  Papyrus opened the door and stepped aside to let her go in first, just like Sans knew he would.  

She slid forward, tentative but still curious.  They could all see the glaringly bright red she had picked for her walls.  That had been a good idea, letting her pick.  It made it hers.  

_SQUELCH_.  She slid right into a mysterious force-field.  Confused, she moved back and poked at a plastic wrap barrier that was for some reason suddenly in her way.

“guess bro decided to gift wrap your room for you,” Sans said, from behind them.  Everyone other than Papyrus was startled by his sudden appearance.

Papyrus just looked annoyed. “I PROMISE I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH WHATEVER THIS IS.”  He looked at Sans.  "WAS THIS WHAT YOU HAD UNDER WRAPS EARLIER?  I KNEW YOU WERE UP TO SOME TOMFOOLERY, SANS!  YOU ARE AS PREDICTABLE AS CLOCKWORK!  CLOCKWORK THAT YOU ARE SOMETIMES TOO LAZY TO WIND, BUT NONETHELESS!"

The little girl poked at the plastic again.  She giggled.  

Oh, man.  

Sans walked over to her and held out his hand.  He knew from long experience that his classic greeting didn’t always work right with this particular kind of monster, so he had his backup plan.  "hey.  i don’t know what’s up with papyrus and whatever cool thing he’s doing, but i’m just here to say hi.”

She took his hand and shook it.  The plastic skeleton hand was pulled free from his sleeve and detached completely.  She threw it on the ground and then laughed, again.  

“ow,” he said.  "that’s some grip you’ve got there, kid."  That was two for two.  She was a great audience.  

Papyrus sighed, loud, and pushed through the plastic wrap so they could get into the girl’s bedroom.  

"nah, i’m just messing with you.”  He pulled his hand out of his sleeve and patted her once on the shoulder.  "let’s check your new digs, kid."

The baby woke up and started making noise.  Papyrus came over and the human woman helped him take the little monster.  Papyrus made faces at them and they stared at him, fascinated.  

Sans let them continue their tour.  He went into the kitchen and shot a message off to Grillby.

_*youre missing a party_

_*Are you all right?_

_*nah im dead sorry youre a widower this is papyrus_

_*Sans._

_*my apologies for deceiving you with my exceptionally clever ruse  
*i wouldve typed that in all caps but alphs put the kibosh on that_

_*So you’re fine._

_*yeah look i said hi to a kid i know im a mess grillbz but cut me some slack here_

_*I’m sorry._

_*nah its ok i get it  
*im fine and ill let you know if that changes ok_

There was a long pause before Grillby sent his next message.

_*Ok.  :)_

He was pretty sure Grillby had just learned how to make emoticons, and it was still creeping Sans out to get them.  

_*i hate to be the guy who tells you this but those dont work for you_

_*Why not?_

Grillby didn’t have eyes, and he didn’t have a mouth.  He was fire. Sans was 99% sure Grillby was messing with him.  

_*how about: 8_

_*8 of what?_

_*no thats your glasses see it works_

_*8-)  Is this better?_

_*yeah its perfect grillbz_

He was 100% certain he was being messed with.  


	11. Chapter 11

Sans liked to think hotdog stacking had helped Frisk develop skills they were still using, years later.  The amount of food that kid had managed to pile on their tiny plastic plate was genuinely impressive.   

“They are at… _that age_ ,” Toriel said, knowingly.  

Sans piled poptato salad on his plastic plate until it started to crack.  Sans wasn’t sure what she was talking about.  "huh. well, no one’s young forever."  Ideally.  

"They asked a friend to go to a dance with them, and they were…oh, Sans.  It is so tragic.  Their friend did not take them seriously, because they flirted with them so many times, just playing around, as a child.”  She snickered behind her hand.

“heh.  oh no.”  

“So…so they asked someone else, and they had also flirted with them years ago and forgotten, and so they were rejected by yet another potential date.”

“oh _no_.”  Sans was snickering, now, too.  "it all catches up to you some day, i guess."

"They have played with too many hearts,” Toriel said.  

Frisk was watching them from across the yard, like they knew Sans and Toriel were making fun of them.  

“hey, tori.  what kind of dance do moms like best?”

“Oh, I wonder!”

“the mom-bo.”  

She laughed, loud, and knocked into him.  He had to do some fancy magic to save his plate from hitting the ground.  

“What does a snail wear to go dancing?” she asked.

“dunno, tori.”

“Escar-gogo boots!”  

“oh man.  that’s so good.  you… _s-nailed_ that one.”

Papyrus had been walking towards them, but he abruptly turned and went a completely different direction.  

“Why did the skeleton decide against going dancing?” Toriel asked.

“that’s one of my faves.”

“He had no body to go with!”

“nah.  that’s not true at all.  grillbz gets really fired up when it comes to dancing.  i just can’t put my heart into it.”

“You don’t have the stomach for it,” she said.  "I understand completely."

"or the ear for the music.  it’s sad.”

Frisk looked away from them and walked over to Asgore, searching for sympathy.  Frisk still looked tiny next to Asgore, and it took Sans back a few years.  Had that kid really been around the same height as Sans, once?  

Stepping down had done Asgore a world of good. He almost looked happy.  Toriel mostly ignored him, but when they did speak, she tried to be polite.  Things changed.

Grillby was at the grill, delighted to be there.  Maybe Tori would let them use her yard for a BBQ someday, because Grillby really got a kick out of cooking for everyone.  

“How have the children been?”  Toriel asked, curious.  Sans hadn’t talked about them, much.

“they’re good kids,” Sans said.  "not a great time for ‘em, but they’re being champs about it."

"I was…a little worried about Papyrus,” she admitted. “But he seems to be doing well.”

“he’s read a whole library of books on kids at this point, and these guys knew him before they moved in.  bro takes this stuff pretty serious.”  Sans was annoyed that she didn’t trust his brother, but Toriel was always going to worry about kids.  

“Well, if he needs anyone to watch them,” she said.  "I, or Frisk, would love to help out.  I…miss having a little one around,“ she admitted.  She nudged him.  "Perhaps being woken up a few times in the night and cleaning up baby slime would cure me of that.”

He snorted.  "yeah.  lucky paps is the one getting up."

Sans finished off his healthy salad and went over to hover by Grillby.  

"having fun over here?”

Grillby nodded.  He had borrowed an apron from Undyne when he took over, one with a tiny colorful fish pattern all over it.  Sans thought it looked pretty good on him.  

“hey, your knot’s coming loose back here,” Sans lied.  

Grillby nodded at his hands.  They were pretty full, and he looked busy.  "Would you fix it?“  

Sans undid the knot and then retied it.  "there we go.”  He brushed imaginary dust off Grillby’s back.  

“Thank you.”  

Undyne charged towards them.  Sans saw murder in her eye, but that was just standard and didn’t tell him anything new.  

“Hey, you!” she called out.

“hey.”  

She tried to greet him with a slap on the back, but Sans was over on the other side of the grill checking out the stack of uncooked burgers before the blow landed.  "Thanks for bringing this guy along!“ she said, gesturing at Grillby.  Looked like Alphys’ third guess had been right.  Undyne grinned.  

"yeah i dunno i just go somewhere and he follows me sometimes,” Sans said.  

Grillby set down his grilling fork so he could poke Sans on the side of the head.  Sans appreciated that he’d set down the fork, first.  

She walked around Grillby towards Sans.  "Papyrus looks like he’s having a great time!" she said.  

"yeah.  he’s happy.”  

She leaned down, still grinning.  She sure had a lot of teeth. “That’s pretty good luck, for you.”  

“yup.”  They’d already been over this.  This sounded like they were getting close to Alphys’ first guess being right.  

“…I’m trying to concentrate,” Grillby said.  

Undyne stared at him.  She hadn’t gotten a word of that.  "I’m not picking a fight!  I’m here to apologize for tearing him a new one over the phone."  After all that, it was door #2?

"…I don’t care.  Maybe he deserved it.  Just do this someplace else, if you want me to cook for you."  Grillby barely tried to make himself understandable, that time.  

"He really upset his brother!  And he’s not the only one who cares about him, you know.”

“…yes, ok.  But if you don’t want these burnt, go away.” Grillby was getting visibly irritated.  

“uh,” Sans said.  He should probably do something about this.  He scratched his head.  It was kind of funny, though.

“She can take over again,” Grillby said.  

“man, no one wants that.  uh, grillbz thinks it’s a-ok if you tell me off, but you’ve gotta do it somewhere else while he’s cooking.”  

She threw her head back and started laughing.  "Wow!  I didn’t catch a word of what you said, did I?"  She smacked Grillby affectionately on the back and he almost pitched forward into the grill.  

Once he was steady on his feet again, Grillby said, "That’s it” and started undoing the apron.

“hey, let’s go see how bro’s doing,” Sans said, to Undyne.

“Yeah!  Thanks for all your help, Grillby!” she said, cheerful.  She and Sans walked off, finally giving Grillby some peace.  

There were a lot of people to feed, but Grillby was eventually able to finish up and sit over by Sans.  

“How did your fight go?” Grillby asked.  He was burning cheerfully, very pleased with himself.  Sans figured Grillby interpreted being asked to cook as all their friends admitting that he was the best at barbeque.  

“eh, boring.  she said she shouldn’t’ve yelled since bro didn’t want her to, but that someone had to do it.  i said 'okay.  it’s not a big deal’ and then papyrus changed the subject so i think we’re actually cool now.”  

“Good.  That was annoying.”  

“you were ready to tear into her,” Sans said, eyes bright with amusement.  Grillby found Undyne intimidating.  

“I was not.  I was ready to let her cook.”  

“you would’ve only been hurting yourself there, buddy.”

“I know.”  

“and i guess everyone who can’t eat char.  but so long as you made a burger for me, first, it would’ve been fine,” he said, winking. 

“…priorities.”

“exactly.”  

There was a loud _boom_ and they turned to look towards where Undyne and some other people were playing volleyball.  There was a smoking crater in the yard.  Papyrus filled the hole and Alphys ran off to get a replacement ball and pretty soon, the game resumed. Toriel sat on the ground with the baby in her lap, watching everyone play.  

“How did you get a crumb on your shoulder?”  Grillby asked.

“huh?”

Grillby reached around and brushed off Sans’ shoulder, and then left his arm around him.

“heh.  guess i’m just a mess.”  

He nodded.  They went back to watching the game.  "Your friends have so much energy."

"where’s it even come from?”  Grillby was just tired because he’d had to get up earlier than normal.  "you ready to head back and get a nap in?"

"I’d feel like an old man.”  

“well,” Sans shrugged.

Grillby turned to stare at him.

“heh.  that’d be a weird thing for you to feel, since you’re so young,” Sans said, winking.  

“……nice save.”  

“i had to get the hang of this at some point.”  Grillby’s arm was warm and comfortable against his back.  "hey, uh, thanks for coming to this stuff when you can.  i get they’re more my friends than yours.“  Sans had already been pals with most of Grillby’s friends, so he’d never had to adjust to them.  

Grillby was quiet, thinking.  

It was getting tough to track the intense volley happening between Papyrus and Undyne.  Undyne yelled something about facing things head on, and then she hit the ball oddly gently.  It flew over the net towards the older kid.  She took the advice literally and moved forward, letting the ball hit the top of her head.  It didn’t bounce much, but enough for Papyrus to dive in and get it over the net before it hit the ground.  Frisk went for it, but they missed it completely. 

"WOWIE, IMPRESSIVE SAVE!”  Papyrus told the child.  

She waved the little nubs she used as arms, delighted that she’d helped.  

“I like this kid!  She just throws herself right in!” Undyne said.  Sans was pretty sure Undyne had just won herself another fan.  

“…well,” Grillby said, “They’re your family.”  

Sans yawned and leaned against Grillby’s shoulder.  Maybe Grillby was too young for naps, but the sun and Grillby were too warm for Sans to stay awake much longer.  "yeah," he said.  

"So of course I’m here.  When I can be.”  

Sans nodded.  That made sense.  That’d be how Grillby saw family. Someone who stuck around had to be more important than someone who didn’t.  No matter what they were _supposed_ to be for him.  Sans wasn’t sure he viewed family the same way, but it was useful to get how Grillby saw it.  

“And you’d do the same for me.”  

“uh.  i’m pretty lazy.  i might sleep through a few family picnics.”  He should just be honest, there.  

“When it matters,” he said, pushing.  "When you _can_."

"ok.”  He patted Grillby on the knee.  "got a lot on your mind, huh.“  

Grillby stared at him, burning gently.

"yeah.  i already made that promise, though, right?  i said i’d be here for you.”  Sans had said he’d run it to the end, and he meant it.  

He nodded.

“well, if i’ve gotta repeat it 'til it sinks in, that’s just how it is.”  

“I believe you.”  Grillby relaxed, again, and went back to watching the game.  

Sans nodded off against his arm.  When he woke up, everyone was still playing.  Sans had wanted to stick around until the desserts were set out, but it didn’t look like that was ever going to happen.  Alphys had said something about ice cream, and he bet there was a cake, too.

“Why is your eye glowing?” Grillby asked, confused.

“must just be the weather,” Sans said.  

The next serve went slightly off course in mid-air, bounced off three separate people, knocked down a stack of plastic cups, and headed straight towards Mettaton.  He ended its reign of terror, chainsawing it in half before it touched him.  He settled back down and crossed his legs.  "WATCH YOUR AIM, MY LOVELIES.“  

"Oh no!  I only had f-four extras!  That was the last one!” Alphys said.  

“Eh, let’s just say I won and get out the rest of the food!” Undyne said.  "Unless anyone’s THAT dead set on me kicking their butt.“  

Frisk was already walking away from the net.

"what’s that look about?”  Sans rested his head back on Grillby’s shoulder.  

Grillby shook his head.


End file.
